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Dusk, From East Side of Prestwick avenue looking West, Orleans

Using binoculars and a hand-held short tube 80mm Janice and I managed
to observe Venus at 6:45pm. Very nice in that it definitely shows up
as a very small thin crescent, even in the 7 X 50 binoculars. The
short tube showed it only slighly larger at 12x. You were easily able
to have the horizon and the planet in the same field of view.

The Moon was a very slight and beautiful crescent tonight, set in a
backfrop of the sunset's gold and red colours. Quite attractive. If
any of you get to observe it at higher powers, maybe let us know.
Even at 12x in the short tube 80mm it was looking fine.

Catching the Photons

Rol

--- In OAFs@y..., "Mike Wirths" <mwirths@s...> wrote:

Hi Jean,

Anytime you're ready with the cadets let me know. You don't think

more than 5-6 would come? I certainly have room for more than that, so
even if its a whole busload, we can show them some awesome sights!

Ni

Mike

Mike,

I've put the invitation up on the cadet staff group. They will be
asking this Wednesday who would be interested in coming out to look
through the Big Boys....
then I need to have you select a Saturday night that works for you and
then we hope that the weather cooperates (fingers crossed, rubbing
lucky rabbits foot and keeping many four-leaf clovers handy!)

We should wind up with about 15 or so people(including the Staff,
they're just foaming at the mouth to see throught some big scopes....)
who can make it out ...I'll be bringing out my little 8" and having
fun with it as well ( maybe get you to look through it and tell me
what you think).

Again,thank you for the very kind offer!

Jean

Hi Jean,

Anytime you're ready with the cadets let me know. You don't think more than 5-6 would come? I certainly have room for more than that, so even if its a whole busload, we can show them some awesome sights!

Ni

Mike

Well as Jean observed the proper greeting is of course..
G'day Bruce!!!
So we and all the others at the philosophy dept of the University of
Wallamaleu would like to welcome the pommie bastard to god's own earth!!!
(all in unison) GIDDAYY!!!

so in honour of another Bruce joining the faculty I've uploaded the complete
philospher song to the Sillyfiles directory!!


---Bruce Wirths

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the OAFs
group.

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Regards,

mwirths@...

Hey Richard!

Observing on a hotel balcony using binocs in To is liable to get you
arrested!!!! Come on fess up what ELSE did you see ;>)

-Mike (in sweat pants) W

--- In OAFs@y..., "Richard Harding" <rharding@i...> wrote:

Time: Wednesday, March 21 05:00 EST
Location: Downtown Toronto
Howard Johnson Hotel Balcony in my underwear
Equipment: Orion 9 x 63 binoculars

Conditions: Clearity - Duh...downtown Toronto
Seeing 3.9

Great Observing Report there Richard!

Your attention to detail, such as what exactly is appropriate
winter balcony wear at 5a.m. is what makes it that much more useful.
I'm sure that if anyone else was up and about in Toronto at that time,
they'd notice your apparition as much as Mars'... I guess that
gets classified under: "Observe with what you've got". ;-)


Rol

Time: Wednesday, March 21 05:00 EST
Location: Downtown Toronto
Howard Johnson Hotel Balcony in my underwear
Equipment: Orion 9 x 63 binoculars

Conditions: Clearity - Duh...downtown Toronto
Seeing 3.9

Blown away by the twins Mars and Antares!! With Arcturus lurking off
to the side. All this with the music of background traffic!!! You
really gotta miss it to do this!!

I need to get out more....

At least it was warm!!
Richard

Welcome aboard Bruce!!
We never run out of things to wonder at!!! So wear the title Newbie proudly...we all did!!
Richard

Look!! I came here for a good argument!!
No you didn't...you came here for an argument.
Well an arguments not the same as contradiction!
It can be.
NO IT CAN'T. An argument is a connected series of statements to establish proposition.
No it isn't
Is..
Isn't
Is!!!
Oh look...this is hopeless!!
No it isn't..........
Is!!
Isn't!!

Sess#279 2:30-3:15pm Driveway solar clear March 25th/01

A session with the full apeture solar filter on the SCT 8" this
afternoon. Though we are past solar maximum, there's still quite a
bit of sunspot activity.

There was one particular complex that measured approx. 100 arc
seconds across( as per reticle micrometer eyepiece ) - that's fairly
large -- probably equal to Jupiter in actual size! And that's just a
sunspot.

Made three sketches. One of full solar disk ( 63X ), one of the large
spot described above ( 222X ), and a third one of a semi-cicle
comprising of perhaps a dozen small spots ( 111X ). The entire
semi-circle measured approx. 80" across.

Much of the very faint small whitish "ribbons" of slightly brighter
solar surface, near the edges, were too difficult to render in a
sketch. However, it's noted that there were 5 or 6 different such
"ribbons observed." Next time, I should try the ALP, OIII, and other
filters, just to see what happens.

General notes: Magnifications past 111X seem useless since the seeing,
by definition, is terrible when observing the sun.

Roland

Great article on viewing and sketching Mars in the May Sky and Telescope. Give it a look if you can.
Richard

Next we have no. 4 "crunchy frog".

Ah...Yes...

Am I right in believing that there is a real frog in here?!?

Yes, a little one.

What sort of frog?!?

A dead one.

Is it cooked?

No.

What, a RAW frog?!?!

We use only the finest baby frogs, dew picked and flown in from Iraq, cleansed in the finest quality spring water, lightly killed, and then sealed in Swiss treble cream mild chocolate and lovingly frosted with glucose.

That's as may be, but its still a frog!!!

What else?

Well don't you at least take out the bones?!?!?

If we took out the bones it wouldn't be crunchy would it?!?!?

Mars will be one of the prime targets for many of us this year. It
will be larger than it had been for a while, nearly 25% larger than 2
years ago. However, it will be sitting relatively low in the
shouthern sky, this time around, so the seeing would have to be fairly
still to get a great view.

If you're new to observing the red planet, here's a suggestion. It
takes a little while to actually learn to see the fine detail on Mars.
The first two or three times I looked at the planet, it seemed to me
all I could see was a washed out light pinkish disk. However, if you
keep at it, you begin to see more and more of the fine detail.

Many books on the topic of Mars Observing suggest that people "train"
their eyes for mars by starting to observe it early, well before
opposition. With repeated sessions, especially if you try your hand
at sketching, you will eventually be able to notice many subtle
details that were not at all apprarent when you got your first glance.

At the end of the last opposition, two years ago, I managed to make
the following sketch in my logbook:


F

There's no way in the world that I would have seen this the first or
second time I looked. Training your eye for Mars will prepare you for
those 2 or 3 very steady special evenings that make the whole thing so
rewarding.

Another hint. Red coloured filters really help with seeing some of
the darker areas on the surface of Mars. However, if you wait too
long to purchase a plain red filter, I'm pretty sure Focus Scientific
and other suppliers will run out as they did last time. So... if you
really want to observe Mars, you might consider making the purchase of
a relatively inexpensive red filter soon, especially if you intend on
sketching the planet.

At a later time, I'll post a link to a site where you can download a
Mars viewing program that allows you to see &/or print a view of Mars
at a specific time. This really helps you to confirm or dispute your
own sketches -- and to verify what structure is real and what might
just be "averted imagination".

Holy Pythonic Photons!

Rol

Welcome Bruce,

I'm always happy to welcome a new oaf, especially one
so appropriately named.

I hope you will find a little astronomy here, hidden amogst
all the pythons. ("python" similar to "photon". the quantum
unit of sillyness.)

-ad

There is no rule six.

I'm glad that link on SCT collimation basics was useful to you.

Hopefully it'll all come together for you soon and you'll gain the
control and confidence to do a good collimation job on your own scope.

It's so cool the first time you do it yourself and it really works.
Images get crisp and sharp, details come out of the haze... You'll
get it soon, Jean.

Photonman

Be most Welcome, Sir Bruce of McGlashan, ( skilled winter observer and
closet sky sketcher ), to our small band of OAFs!

--- In OAFs@y..., "Bruce McGlashan" <mcglashanb2@h...> wrote:

I've got a huge number of questions I'd like to pass by you OAFs -
I'll try not to make a pest of myself.

Not only would you not be a pest, but your questions would most
probably assist others who might now, or later, find themselves in a
similar situation. I just hope some of us will have some kind of
useful knowledge to be of assistance.

Thanks so mcuh for dropping by! Knowing of your interest in sketching,
perhaps it might of interest for you to know that I am planning a kind
of multi-observer sketching session in maybe a month or so ( after
snow, before bugs ).

With your newly purchased scope and eyepieces, perhaps you might be
interested in joining me ( and hopefully others ) for that session. I
use a mechanical pencil, a plastic white eraser pencil, a smudger and
a wirebound sketchpad - what do you like to use?

Photons Rule!

Rol

PS - I must let other OAFs, far more versed in MontyP lore than I,
respond to the Bruce & Sheila comments, ok. Wink, wink, nudge,
nudge...

--- In OAFs@y..., "Bruce McGlashan" <mcglashanb2@h...> wrote:
From the looks of it, I guess I'll

be the resident newbie, at least for the time being. I've got a

huge number

of questions I'd like to pass by you OAFs - I'll try not to make a

pest of

myself.

In order to welcome you, proper like....
G'day Bruce!
There are no newbies here....we're just a smidge off-center( or is
that kilter....and just what IS a kilter????) and you'd best polish
up on your Python....references are numerous and funny ( if you like
that sort of thing...)
Was anyone else out observing this evening or was I alone with all
the Photons????

Seeing wasn't great, but then again, any seeing is better than no
seeing. Still get goose bumps when I look up at Saturn or see the
moons of Jupiter.... a few neighborhood kids came by and the "oohs
and aahs" were many (with variations I won't reprint here...) and a
lot of parents were brought back to see "what the old guy up the
street" was showing...(everything being relative to a 14 yer old, I
guess...)

A lot of new faces in the area, all wanting to know how much I
charged to look at the sky...and were very surprised to hear I did it
for the fun of it and their reactions...they didn't quite get it
until they started "oohing and aahing" and saw me smiling. I think
I've made a ton of new observing buddies!

So, welcome Bruce. Mike get the big fellas ready...I'll be planning a
trip your way real soon. Roland, thanks for the link, and yes it was
very interesting reading.

Jean

A couple of people have told me about your little group, and I've been
lurking here for the last couple of weeks now, so I guess it's time to fess
up and make my participation more overt. From the looks of it, I guess I'll
be the resident newbie, at least for the time being. I've got a huge number
of questions I'd like to pass by you OAFs - I'll try not to make a pest of
myself.

BTW, if I start calling you all Bruce, you WILL understand, right? Uh, that
is, apart from the Sheila's in the group. Know what I mean? Know what I
mean?

Bruce (my real, if not my first, name) McGlashan

Error in my last message... I had said "North" but...

I should have said 1000ft "South" of Hunt Club Rd., on Conroy Rd's
West side. There is a very easy to see brown and beige NCC sign by
the side of the Road saying "Conroy Rd. Pit". The parking lot by the
road there is also very evident to see. A map will be prepared as
soon as confirmation arrives...

Thanks,
Rol

Thanks you Matt, Mike, Roland, Jan and Richard for the
kind words.

-ad

Hi Attilla & Richard,

Janice and I drove out this morning to check out the so-called "Conroy
Rd. Pit" ( on W side of Conroy Rd., 1000ft North of Hunt Club ) as a
possible site for the Girl Guides session. There are a few problems
with the place, as follows:

1- There is a nearby streetlamp located maybe 40 ft from the parking
lot. No way to avoid it. Also, you see a bit of the end of the urban
sprawl maybe 2000ft away. You're not actually in the pit, to observe.
Kids that age might find that less scary though.

2- Obsering would have to happen in or near the parking lot. So we'd
get headlights when people drive in and out. It'd be more like
sidewalk astronomy than dark site observing, I think.

3- There are trees maybe 40 ft away stealing the last 15 degrees up
from the horizon. However the moon will be at first quarter and the
planets should be visible at dusk for about an hour.

Since this is a session for 6-8 year old girls and their parents, and
since the moon and planets are likely to be the main targets, perhaps
this site could work out OK. At least here, there'd be a chance to
look at a few more targets like globulars or doubles, as compared to a
shopping mall.

Also, this is a public area where people might drive in to go walk
their dogs. Chances are they too might stop by to take a peek. So
overall, I'd say it's worth a try, just to see how it turns out.

I have yet to confirm the site with the organizer, so it's just a
touch premature to post a map. Assuming it is a go, I will then make
and post a map and text description, to help people find it. Remember
that this will be a relatively small group of 10 kids and possibly
their parents. It should be fun.

We'll keep you posted.
Thanks,

Roland ( & Janice )