Astrosetz

Air Sick

2009-02-16T19:01:00.000-08:00

For some reason, when I travel on airplanes I often get sick. I don't know if it's the recycled air or the change in temperature going from a warm place to a cold one. At any rate, I'm not well.

Goodbye Ron

2009-02-02T19:28:00.000-08:00

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 has been diminished. Ron Ravneberg, a prolific amateur telescope maker who was a driving force in the "Dobsonian Revolution" of the 1980s, has lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 60 years old.

His most famous telescope was probably "Alice," an 8" Dobsonian that he designed to fold up small enough that it could be taken on his first trip to Alice Springs in Australia. That telescope was the inspiration to the telescope I designed and built many years ago called "Twisted Alice" (the scope design on my home page). Ron later built his own version of Twisted Alice with much better execution, but he went out of his way to credit me with the tweak to his original design when he published an article about his newest scope in Amateur Astronomy magazine. I never forgot his generosity.

Thanks, Ron. You will be missed.

Dawn of IYA2009

2009-01-04T11:25:00.001-08:00

We are now three days into the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) and so far it's shaping up to be fantastic! The first event, put together just a few weeks beforehand, was Dawn of IYA2009. The idea was to get out and show people the Sun through filtered telescopes on New Year's Day, kicking off IYA2009. This was the brain child of someone in the southern hemisphere, where January 1 is routinely very warm. Still, folks up north were encouraged to participate, and if it wasn't overcast and lightly snowing we would have been out on the sidewalk with our solar scopes. Still, we had our own little Dawn of IYA2009 celebration...

Our very good friend Hesther was visiting us from Minnesota during the New Year's holiday. She went with us to Northwoods Starfest back in August. It was her first star party, and she even pulled an all-nighter with Becca and I, observing until morning twilight. I couldn't let Hesther begin IYA2009 without a scope, so I secretly procured a used Orion XT 4.5 Dobsonian from Astromart and hoped it would arrive by Wednesday the 31st, which it did (the box with the tube came on Monday, and the box with the base came on Wednesday, so it was close).

On New Year's Day we gave Hesther her new telescope, which she immediately named "Orion." That night, it was clear for short period of time, and Hesther was able to set up the scope on our deck and observe the Moon. I didn't realize that she never saw the Moon through a telescope before (Northwoods Starfest was held during New Moon) so it was extra cool for her to see the Moon for the first time through her telescope.

All in all, it was a wonderful Dawn of IYA2009. I hope every day of IYA2009 is a fun as the first.

Thoughts On Tires

2008-12-14T18:22:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I took my 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan to the dealer for some minor service. I had them rotate the tires because I couldn't remember the last time I did it, and afterword my steering wheel shimmied back and forth. I called them and they said it's because of the uneven wear of the tires, and it would "drive out" over time. Well, it got better in a few days but it never really went away.

So I figured that maybe I'm due for new tires, and I asked a few people at work. They asked me how many miles I had, and I told them I just went over 100k on the vehicle and the tires were original equipment. Everyone was shocked and more than a few made me think my tires were in danger of blowing out at any moment.

Yesterday I went into a local tire shop (on the recommendation of my brother) to have them replace the tires with the exact same ones (Goodyear Integrity). When I asked them how bad the tires were, they said there was still a little tread left -- no need to panic -- but they would need to be replaced fairly soon. So I had them go ahead with the procedure.

Now my vehicle rides like a new car. I know I got away with having those tires for twice their warranteed life, but I think I'll pay a little more attention to this set. Like rotating them every 6k miles like I'm supposed to (this place does it for free), if for nothing more than preserving the new, almost luxurious ride I now have.

When was the last time you rotated your tires? :)

Snow and astronomy

2008-11-30T18:03:00.000-08:00

As we speak, people in the Milwaukee area are experiencing their first winter storm of the season. We had several hours advance notice, so I was able to move things around the garage to get my car in. During the process I put away a few telescopes that I had left put together, and I thought to myself "I won't be using most of these until next spring." I was a little sad, but not completely. My next thought was of the newness and excitement of that first spring day, the day I take the covers off the scopes in the garage and get them ready for the new observing season.

It sounds cliche, but I really think I appreciate the nice observing evenings more because I know they are limited. When Becca and I were in Arizona, it was absolutely wonderful, but I did find myself kind of taking the night sky for granted. If we didn't look at Comet Holmes one night, we said "oh, well, we'll catch it tomorrow night" with the expectation that it would be clear and warm -- and it was. Every night, in fact.

Awesome? Yes. But tonight, as our newly-hung outdoor Christmas lights get their first blanket of pure white snow, I think to myself that we were able to appreciate those perfect Arizona nights a little more because of our Wisconsin heritage. And I also remember that, at the end of the honeymoon trip, I was missing the quiet outdoor scene of our snow-blanketed neighborhood -- just a little bit.

Black Friday lives up to it's name

2008-11-28T08:03:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe the story coming out of Long Island, NY this morning. The throng of people waiting to get into the store at it's 5am opening smashed the doors and tore them off their hinges? At least two people were trampled, including one an employee of the store WHO DIED from his injuries, and another pregnant woman who miscarried because of her injuries?

Wow.

I hope the security cameras at that Walmart are put to good use by the assistant DA in prosecuting those who were responsible.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/11/28/2008-11-28_worker_dies_at_long_island_walmart_after.html

Black Friday -- buy a toaster

2008-11-27T18:34:00.000-08:00

These are the days when people jump around from store to store, trying to get the best bargains. My normal advice for avoiding local retail as a source for telescopes goes double for the thousands of boxes of "product" imported by all the retailers this time of year. Please do NOT buy the super-powered telescope from the department or big-box store. Buy the toaster two aisles down -- at least, you can do something with a toaster.

If you want to buy a telescope for that special someone this year, take a look at the recommendations at http://www.ncsf.info/ or ask me here on this blog. Want a second opinion? Check out the de-facto standard gathering place for all things amateur astronomy at http://www.cloudynights.com/.

Thanks(giving) to The Lady Editor

2008-11-26T19:42:00.001-08:00

One of the best things on television is the History Channel. Tonight, after our traditional Junk Food night (no real cooking the night before Thanksgiving), we are watching the history of Thanksgiving. Pretty cool stuff. I'm sure the Puritans would be shocked at our interpretation of their somber festival. It was facinating to learn how New Englanders spread the tradition as they spread out in the growing young United States.

By the way, in the 19th century, they served a whole lot more food than we do even today. Take a look at History Channel website to see how unbelieveably huge the typical Thanksgiving meal was. Then again, they danced the night away to popular folk songs, instead of parking themselves on the couch watching football on TV, so they could burn some of those calories.

My favorite part of the documentary is the story of how Sarah Hale, widowed homemaker who published the largest ladies journal of the time, essentially browbeat governers North and South, as well as Abraham Lincoln, into declaring a single, national Thanksgiving holiday. For Lincoln, it was a move to heal the country, but no doubt is was Ms. Hale who was the driving force to establishing our uniquely American holiday. So thanks(giving) to "The Lady Editor" for her persistence!

I love Le Creucet!

2008-11-25T16:53:00.000-08:00

The other night I made jambalaya. I've been making it for many years, and like I said in a previous post, people seem to like my "jumbles." One of the things I had trouble with in the past was uneven heating. My large stainless steel pan has a nice bottom but it didn't hold the heat on the sides the same, and cleaning up was kind of a pain. Becca gave me a big Le Creucet Dutch Oven for Christmas two years ago, but that didn't work so well for jumbles because the rice didn't transmit the heat through the middle (although that pot is fantastic for gumbo and beef stew).

For our wedding last year, one of the gifts we received was a 5qt Le Creucet brasier. Wow! I am so in love with that thing; it cooks very evenly, holds heat, the lid is very tight, and it cleans up like a dream. I also love our All-Clad saucier, small pot and fry pans, but for the big stuff I am sold on enameled cast iron. As I cook more things, I'm starting to see the reasoning behind the different types of cooking vessels. Does that mean I'm getting to be a better cook? Not sure about that ... but at least I'm cooking and learning, not just nuking frozen burritos in the microwave like I did for the first half of my adult life.

International Year of Astronomy 2009

2008-11-24T17:37:00.000-08:00

Next year is the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) and you'll be seeing a lot of posts about it in the coming months. I am very excited about the opportunity to share the night sky with so many people, as IYA2009 will certainly raise the awareness of stargazing in the general population.

Believe it or not, stargazers and professional astronomers do not all know each other. IYA2009 is providing an incredible vehicle for all of us in the astronomical community to network and build relationships. I've become involved in areas of astronomy outreach that I never even considered before, one of which is podcasting. I an volunteering to do an episode of 365 Days of Astronomy. Who knows? If it works out, I might do more than one :)

The Joy of Cooking

2008-11-23T20:02:00.000-08:00

Sunday night just seems like the time to cook. Often times, it's Jambalaya Night -- I know how to make it, people actually like it, and it's one of my personal favorite dishes. On Sunday, there is plenty of time and I don't have to rush, so I'll do some prep, walk away and do something else, then come back and start cooking, cleaning up after myself as I go; it's very relaxing, actually. I like the idea of leftovers too -- kind of getting a jump on the week. So Sunday Jambalaya Night is Good. Tonight is Good.