For the first time in ages, I have been shut out by the weather for an entire month. My last observation report is dated October 30, 2008. The whole month of November has been cloudy. We've already had snow twice and are expecting something like 6-8 inches on the ground by Monday evening.
I've managed to keep very busy, getting a lot done at work and spending the week around full moon in Cambridge at AAVSO headquarters for meetings with the Director and staff. But enough is enough! I need some starlight to get my attitude right again.
I'd even settle for a couple so-so nights to complete shaking down the CCD telescope. Even that looks unlikely in the next week or so.
The upside is I'll have a little more time to devote to the blog in the coming week. I have a half dozen articles in various stages of completion, and I hope to publish a few of them soon.
Carnival of Space #81
Carnival of Space #81 is online over at Tracy Zollinger Turner's blog, Tiny Mantras. As usual, this week's Carnival is an eclectic grab bag of astronomy, space science and political offerings. Nice job, Tracy.
The Simonsen T-M Diagram
You've heard of the H-R Diagram. Its a plot of luminosity versus color for stars. Up through the middle runs the main sequence, where typical stars, like our Sun, spend the majority of their lives, steadily converting Hydrogen into Helium.
Veering off to the right and up is the instability strip, where we find stars that have undergone changes in their interiors and are now pulsating, like Miras and Cepheids. You knew I had to slip in something about variable stars, right?
Near the top left is where huge, massive, ultra-luminous stars spend their short lives (for stars anyway), gobbling up their interior resources at a fatal rate. Near the bottom we find the burnt out cinders of evolved stars, the white dwarfs.
Many things can be illustrated using the H-R Diagram, but mostly it is an excellent way to track stellar evolution, the birth, life and death of stars.
I have invented something similar to describe the evolutionary track of amateur astronomers. I call it the T-M Diagram. The vertical axis represents money, in dollars. It is a log scale. The horizontal axis represents time, in months, years and decades; also a log scale.
Through the middle of the diagram we find our normal amateur astronomer as he progresses from an initial minor investment of time and money, say a few books and some binoculars, to more sophisticated and expensive items. After a few months or years the amateur probably purchases a telescope and some accessories, and over a period of years to decades may invest several thousand dollars.
For some, once they have tracked down and observed the Messier objects and some other faint fuzzies, they get the bug to try something else, maybe even contribute to science in some way. After a few years they break from the main sequence and form their own branch of the T-M Diagram. They may become variable star observers, search for novae, supernovea, asteroids or comets, or they may become planetary imagers, employing digital SLRs or CCD cameras.
This invariably leads to larger aperture instruments, computers, CCDs, home observatories and an extreme laundry list of accessories, nay, necessities! Before they know it, usually in a matter of years, they have spent tens of thousands of dollars on their hobby. This is not normal behavior and may lead to serious consequences later.
Even more worrisome is the path taken by the serious astrophotographer. These poor people give up their souls, money and in extreme cases, family ties, to pursue the ultimate images of galaxies and nebulae. The addiction takes hold quickly, and there seems to be almost no limit to the time and money they will invest to get the 1000th perfect image of the Eskimo Nebula.
Across the top of the T-M Diagram we see a dashed line. In spite of its interrupted appearance, this line represents a definite limit. The Mrs. Simonsen Limit, which no amateur in this house will dare to cross.
Lastly we find, represented by small circular impressions near the bottom of the T-M Diagram, the burnt out remains of once promising amateur astronomers, who after decades pursuing a hobby that has grown into an obsession, or worse, find themselves insane and bankrupt.
We will discuss this troubling trend in astronomy in future blogs, when we address such things as aperture fever and the signs you or your loved one may be suffering from 'astronomy obsession'. Stay tuned.
Veering off to the right and up is the instability strip, where we find stars that have undergone changes in their interiors and are now pulsating, like Miras and Cepheids. You knew I had to slip in something about variable stars, right?
Near the top left is where huge, massive, ultra-luminous stars spend their short lives (for stars anyway), gobbling up their interior resources at a fatal rate. Near the bottom we find the burnt out cinders of evolved stars, the white dwarfs.
Many things can be illustrated using the H-R Diagram, but mostly it is an excellent way to track stellar evolution, the birth, life and death of stars.
I have invented something similar to describe the evolutionary track of amateur astronomers. I call it the T-M Diagram. The vertical axis represents money, in dollars. It is a log scale. The horizontal axis represents time, in months, years and decades; also a log scale.
Through the middle of the diagram we find our normal amateur astronomer as he progresses from an initial minor investment of time and money, say a few books and some binoculars, to more sophisticated and expensive items. After a few months or years the amateur probably purchases a telescope and some accessories, and over a period of years to decades may invest several thousand dollars.
For some, once they have tracked down and observed the Messier objects and some other faint fuzzies, they get the bug to try something else, maybe even contribute to science in some way. After a few years they break from the main sequence and form their own branch of the T-M Diagram. They may become variable star observers, search for novae, supernovea, asteroids or comets, or they may become planetary imagers, employing digital SLRs or CCD cameras.
This invariably leads to larger aperture instruments, computers, CCDs, home observatories and an extreme laundry list of accessories, nay, necessities! Before they know it, usually in a matter of years, they have spent tens of thousands of dollars on their hobby. This is not normal behavior and may lead to serious consequences later.
Even more worrisome is the path taken by the serious astrophotographer. These poor people give up their souls, money and in extreme cases, family ties, to pursue the ultimate images of galaxies and nebulae. The addiction takes hold quickly, and there seems to be almost no limit to the time and money they will invest to get the 1000th perfect image of the Eskimo Nebula.
Across the top of the T-M Diagram we see a dashed line. In spite of its interrupted appearance, this line represents a definite limit. The Mrs. Simonsen Limit, which no amateur in this house will dare to cross.
Lastly we find, represented by small circular impressions near the bottom of the T-M Diagram, the burnt out remains of once promising amateur astronomers, who after decades pursuing a hobby that has grown into an obsession, or worse, find themselves insane and bankrupt.
We will discuss this troubling trend in astronomy in future blogs, when we address such things as aperture fever and the signs you or your loved one may be suffering from 'astronomy obsession'. Stay tuned.
Comments on Comments
As you may have noticed, I temporarily removed the option to place comments on this blog.
My philosophy has always been to encourage free speech on the blog. I never censored any comments, I never blocked anyone from commenting and I've tried to be fair and honest in answering the comments made on the blog, especially those opinions that may have been different than mine.
Apparently, some people thought it their prerogative to use my blog's comment section as a battleground for an ongoing, personal argument. It got to the point that neither of them was commenting on the actual blog article in question, they were just pissing on each other in my blog site. It got totally out of hand, so I just shut it down.
Now that I've had a few days to cool off and think this over, I've decided to bring up the comments section again. I think it is an important part of a blog and I will not let rude, immature, inconsiderate pricks wreck my blog. I will be approving the comments before they get posted, so in effect I will be censoring them. I'm sorry its come to this, but it has.
I've taken down the whole article on VSX that started this disaster, because it is the only way I can censor the objectionable comments. This is particularly irksome to me because that blog article was the one linked to the Carnival of Space hosted here on Simostronomy. It is now a broken link thanks to these two. I will be posting a revised version of it, taking into account the "reasonable" comments that were posted before the comments turned into a personal flame fest.
The worst part is these were not anonymous spammers, but people I know. One I even considered a friend. I may forgive them one day, but I will never consider either of them a friend after this. And you can be sure they will never be allowed to comment on this blog or any other site I control, ever.
My philosophy has always been to encourage free speech on the blog. I never censored any comments, I never blocked anyone from commenting and I've tried to be fair and honest in answering the comments made on the blog, especially those opinions that may have been different than mine.
Apparently, some people thought it their prerogative to use my blog's comment section as a battleground for an ongoing, personal argument. It got to the point that neither of them was commenting on the actual blog article in question, they were just pissing on each other in my blog site. It got totally out of hand, so I just shut it down.
Now that I've had a few days to cool off and think this over, I've decided to bring up the comments section again. I think it is an important part of a blog and I will not let rude, immature, inconsiderate pricks wreck my blog. I will be approving the comments before they get posted, so in effect I will be censoring them. I'm sorry its come to this, but it has.
I've taken down the whole article on VSX that started this disaster, because it is the only way I can censor the objectionable comments. This is particularly irksome to me because that blog article was the one linked to the Carnival of Space hosted here on Simostronomy. It is now a broken link thanks to these two. I will be posting a revised version of it, taking into account the "reasonable" comments that were posted before the comments turned into a personal flame fest.
The worst part is these were not anonymous spammers, but people I know. One I even considered a friend. I may forgive them one day, but I will never consider either of them a friend after this. And you can be sure they will never be allowed to comment on this blog or any other site I control, ever.
Carnival of Space #80 is LIVE
Ethan, at Starts With A Bang, has done a great job of putting together an astronomical pre-Thanksgiving feast for us all. Check it out at Carnival of Space #80.
Don't Lick the Telescope, and other tips for cold weather observing
Well, there is snow on the ground and the daytime temperatures will be hovering around freezing now. Night-time temperatures will be well below freezing, so winter is here.
Here are some observing survival rules I have learned, observing from Michigan in temperatures down to –40C.
- Wear warm boots. When I meet people new to astronomy, they always want to know what the best telescope is and what accessories to buy. I always tell them, "the most important piece of equipment you will ever buy is warm boots". When it is clear, it is cold. If your feet are cold, you are miserable. If you are miserable, you are done.
- Wear a hat. Most of the heat in your body escapes through the top of your head like a chimney. Cover your head and retain body heat.
- Keep your hands warm. Mittens are better than gloves, but they are awkward to use when dealing with focuser knobs, charts, pens, pencils, etc. If you insist on wearing gloves, keep your hands in your pockets as much as you can and out of the wind. If your fingers begin to hurt from the cold, go inside or get in your car and warm them up thoroughly. Frostbite can be very painful.
- Get out of the wind. Most of the time it’s not the air temperature that gets you, it’s the wind-chill. Put a building or a hedge or an observatory between you and the wind and you will be able to endure the cold for twice as long. The added bonus of not having the telescope shake will save you time in making estimates.
- Don’t breathe on optics. Breathing on cold glass means instant frost. If you wear a scarf over your face, be sure not to let the warm air you exhale spill out over the top of the scarf and down onto the eyepiece. Set up your finder so you are not breathing on the eyepiece when looking through the finder. On very cold nights I usually have a large patch of frost to scrape off the back of the mirror cell of my SCT, caused by my breathing on the cell while looking through the finder.
- If you have dew heaters, use them right from the start of your session. They are much better at preventing frosted corrector plates, secondaries, eyepieces and finders than they are at removing frost. A heated box or holder for eyepieces can be a great benefit. If you only switch between a few, keep them in your pockets to stay warm.
- Keep your pen warm or the ink will freeze. I keep mine tucked behind my ear to keep it warm. I have one of those "astronaut pens". Even that froze at 40 below.
- Use a plastic flashlight. If you are like most of my friends who read charts and log observations by flashlight, you put the flashlight in your mouth to write. A very cold metal flashlight can be hard to remove from your lip without losing a bit of flesh. I suppose rule 8A would be, "don’t lick the telescope!"
- Take breaks every hour or half hour, depending on the weather, and go warm up. Keep an extra pair of dry socks warming on the dash of your car, or go in and throw a pair in the dryer for a few minutes. It’s amazing how a nice toasty pair of socks can change your attitude!
- Be aware of battery life in cold temperatures. The batteries in your flashlight, telescope, camera, dew heaters, etc., will perform poorly in cold temperatures. Keep warm extras handy.
- Keep your own personal battery charged. Plenty of rest, a good meal, snacks and hot coffee go a long way towards warding off the inevitable freeze. The search for a thermos that would keep coffee hot in sub-zero temperatures was my ‘Holy Grail’ for a long time. I finally found one at a camping supply store and it makes all the difference to me.
- Know your limits. You have to be realistic about how much cold, discomfort or pain you can endure in order to get those last few observations. Don’t wait until it’s too late and then decide to tear down and pack up. That’s when you will meet Mr. Frostbite.
With a little planning and common sense you can take advantage of those long, clear, cold winter nights. Orion, Gemini and Auriga are calling. Just be careful out there.
Carnival of Space #78 is Here!
The Carnival of Space is a traveling show of astronomy bloggers that is hosted each week at one of the blog sites of the contributing authors. Coordinated by Fraser Cain of Universe Today, this week the games, rides, clowns and animals are right here at Simostronomy!Admission is free, so come on in and take a look around.
We start the Carnival off with fireworks and a bang at the Starts With A Bang blog. Ethan describes magnetic fields and the way the Sun and Earth's magnetic fields interact. Once you've got your mind around that, try this one on for size. Next Big Future describes how experiments are being conducted to create small magnetic fields with the potential to protect space travelers, much like the earth's magnetic field protects us every day from the Sun's highly charged solar wind and flares. Power to Push Away the Darkness also discusses these experiments and what seems almost like science fiction, "Raise shields!"
Speaking of large magnets, AstroEngine pokes fun at Hollywood's take on the Large Hadron Collider. The comments to this post are as fun as the article! “Next on on Dawson's Creek, the teens try to understand string theory”.
Kentucky Space is giving balloon rides to the edge of space! The payloads are magnetometers used to study Earth's magnetic field, cameras and other experiments, designed and built by students. The Balloon 1 Video tells the story.
You better hurry up and get in line for this ride. Nancy Atkinson gives us some advice on how to prepare to make your own zero-G experience a memorable one . Commercial space flight is here!
A new launch platform for commercial space exploitation is unveiled at the OrbitalHub blog. Vega is an ESA small payload rocket, capable of carrying of satellites up to 3,000 kg into orbit.
Cumbrian Sky asks the question, "Will President Obama lead us back to the moon, and on to Mars?" Imagine, the ultimate ride-- to Mars. Its not so far-fetched an idea. In fact, Altair VI tells us about plans developed in the 1960's to go to Mars with nuclear propulsion, and why they were eventually dropped. 21st Century Waves explains how space exploration may benefit from rhythmic, twice per century economic booms known as a Maslow Windows. 2015 could be the beginning of a ride like the one we had in the sixties! Or it could be a disaster if they're running Vista on it...When we do get to Mars look at some of the natural beauty we will find. The Martian Chronicles show us examples of modern art created by Martian dust devils. Makes me want some cotton candy.
For those hoping to take a long ride, in search of habitable extra solar planets, some bad news from Centauri Dreams. Computer simulations seem to indicate planets are unlikely to have formed in the habitable zones around the stars Centauri A and B.
Sean Welton does an excellent job of describing this months' featured constellation, Andromeda, at the Visual Astronomy blog. One of its most fascinating visual delights is the mighty spiral galaxy M31 in Andromeda. So what makes the spiral arms of a galaxy, and what are they made of? Alice takes you for a ride around the galaxy and explains why spiral arms are essentially a stellar traffic jam at Alice's Astro Info.
More celestial fireworks! Invader Xan explains the chemistry and physics behind colossal supernovae explosions, and reminds us we are all Supernovae Condensate.
Supernovae are super variable stars, and I am a variable star junkie. So where does the Simostronomer go to get his fix? Why the International Variable Star Index of course. The worlds newest database of variable star information.
All the lights at the Carnival of Space are fully shielded, so that we don't add to astronomers' most aggravating problem- light pollution. Alan Dyer explains how this issue is now getting some serious publicity, on the cover of National Geographic no less!
Three weeks sooner than expected, the Phoenix lander has gone into "Lazarus Mode". Emily Lakdawalla explains what that means to the mission and why they are so keen to get the microphone turned on before Phoenix goes quiet for good. Dave Mosher gives us the cold, hard facts about martian winter, and Phoenix' inescapable fate.
Stuart Atkinson leaves us with a mix of emotions in 'Preparing to Sleep'. A farewell to the Phoenix lander, whose time is running short as the Martian nights grow long.
I hope you enjoyed your visit to the Carnival of Space. My thanks to all the writers who contributed, and thank you for visiting. Come back again soon.
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