Jan's LX90 Blog

I haven't disappeared

Fri, 01 Apr 2005 23:58:24 GMT

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't been on the user group for a while, although I do read your messages when I get the time. I also have to apologise for not updating the website since January.

The reason for all this is that my Mom has been in the hospital since the first week of January. We were hopeful at first that she wouldn't be there long, but one thing led to another - and well, she's still there. The good news is that she seems to be doing better, and was recently moved out of the ICU to a regular room.

Once things settle down, I'll be sure to update the site and begin posting to the LX90 user group again. One good thing about astronomy is that it's kept me company on some quiet nights while I was most concerned. There's just something soothing and peaceful about gazing at the heavens in the still of the night, and it's saved my sanity over the last couple months.

Edited to add: And no, this isn't an April fool's day joke. I just realized the date after posting the entry.

- Jan

Huygens Lands on Titan

Fri, 14 Jan 2005 15:07:02 GMT

Congratulations to the Cassini-Huygens team on a job well done!

Is that liquid methane? We should know soon enough..

Geminid Meteor Shower / Autostar update

Tue, 07 Dec 2004 13:38:00 GMT

Astronomy

The annual Geminids peak on December 13th this year.

Autostar Update

Latest version is now 33Ef. Added Zip Codes, some serial strings fixed. To download the firmware without using the Autostar Update software, click here (Direct to Meade's FTP server).

Happy Holidays

Wed, 01 Dec 2004 18:17:56 GMT

I'd just like to take a few minutes and wish everyone a happy and safe Holiday season. I hope that everyone has clear and dark skies, health, happiness and prosperity for the new year.

C/2004 Q2

Thu, 02 Dec 2004 21:05:57 GMT

C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) will pass by the Pleiades around the 7th of January. It should be around 4º to the West of the open cluster, and in a great position for Northern (and many Southern) hemisphere observers. This will be an excellent time for new binocular owners and small telescope owners to try out their new Xmas gifts.

This will also be a great oppurtunity to take wide field images for the more experienced amateurs.

C/2004 Q4 will be near it's closest approach to Earth around the 7th of January. Hopefully it will brighten more and develope a more visible tail during the next month as it approaches perihelion in January.

Upcoming Occultations - Leonid Shower

Wed, 03 Nov 2004 13:13:29 GMT

Upcoming Astronomy Events

Lunar occultation of Venus Nov 10th (Australia / New Zealand - daytime)
Lunar occultation of Jupiter on December 7th
Lunar occultation of Jupiter on November 9th (Eastern US - daytime)
Leonid Meteor Shower on Nov 8th, 18th-19th

Website

Pages have been loading slow lately, be patient. JavaScript error on the index page has been repaired.
Make sure you pay a visit to Pete's new pages, a great new site for Southern hemisphere observers (and all LX90 owners).

LX90

Don't forget to change your Autostar's time settings back, or use Daylight Savings-NO

Update to website and Blog

Sat, 25 Sep 2004 22:53:10 GMT

Well, this is the newest addition to the website. I'll try to keep it simple here, and I promise not to rant and rave about things other than the Meade LX90, and related astronomy.

Website:

For this entry, I'm just going to mention an update to the site. That update is a link to the specifications for the LX90, LX200GPS 7" (Mak) and the LX200GPS 8 and 10" telescopes. There's some information there that always seems to be asked for at times in the group (such as weights, bearings, etc), so I thought it would be a good addition.

I also added a popup window to the main page. I hope it works for everyone, and may not for those with popup killers. It doesn't come up automaticly, only when you click the link for the most recent version of the firmware. The window contains the text for the revision (included in the download) and a link to Meade's site to download the update. Alternatively, you can download using the ASU program.

There's also some new links to other LX90 owner's web sites, please visit them and see what they've been up to.

Astronomy:

The weather has been great here in the Northeast so far this fall. Lots of clear nights, a few with high, thin clouds - and the occasional leftover hurricane that blows through.

Make sure you try to get an observation in of Toutatis in the next few days before it passes. During the passage, it will only be visible to those in the Southern hemisphere.

Also, on LASCO C3 ( http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime-images.html ) Comets C/2003 K4 (LINEAR) and C/2004 R2 (ASAS) will be transiting the field of view from Sept 27 through early October. Mars, Jupiter and Mercury will also be visible on the images.

Saturn is rising earlier each morning, signalling the winter nights of planetary observing. Break out the webcams.

- Jan

Orionids

Wed, 20 Oct 2004 12:39:42 GMT

The Orionid Meteor shower occurs October 21st. Thursday morning before sunrise is the best time to observe. Added atractions this year will be Venus, Saturn and Jupiter in the early morning skies. Click for more information

Astronomy as a Passion

Tue, 12 Oct 2004 23:34:43 GMT

For many years now I've been telling people that astronomy is a hobby of mine. When I say something like that, it fails to pass my interest along to the person being told. They get the impression that astronomy is like sewing, or collecting dolls, or some other non-adventurous "hobby".

A few weeks ago, I went to the wake of a friend's father. Although it being a not-so-happy affair, there were reunions of a few of us that had lost track of each other for a decade or two. One of those persons approached me, asking a simple question that no others nearby understood:

"Are you Jan Miller, the one who went through the Gunbarrel?"

Yep, that was me. All of a sudden, I was reminded of a past "hobby" , and at the same time I suddenly realized what constituted a passion - rather than a hobby.

The "Gunbarrel" is a 50 foot long, roughly 14 inch diameter fissure deep in the solid rock of Knox Cave, roughly 50 miles from where I live. In my freshman year of college I was introduced to "caving" by some newly met friends, repleat with all the tools and techniques of rock climbers and survivalists. It was only two caves after I started the hobby that I was introduced to the gunbarrel. To get to the treasures on the other side of the cave complex, you *had* to pass through the Gunbarrel. It's a daunting passage, both physically and mentally.

To pass through required that your arms be above your head with your toes pointed behind you. To make matters worse, your carbide lamp needed to be extinguished (a helmet barely fit, much less at the angles for a carbide lamp to keep dripping properly) and you had to resort to a small handheld or strapped-to-the-wrist flashlight. You advanced through the gunbarrel by pushing your helmet ahead of you, dragging your gear behind you, and propelling yourself by the fingertips and toes, a couple inches at a time. A claustrophobic and physicaly draining experience - which had to be repeated a second time to exit the cave! Cavers love to name places in caves with descriptive names - The Gunbarrel, the Mud Pits, the lemon squeeze, pretzel connection, Storm drain or Uterus. My prize that day was to be the Alabaster Room.

My reward only came after some slight climbs and more crawling and squeezing - through a muddy, tangled maze of upper and lower tunnels, many of which ended abruptly. I finally arrived at a place that probably a few hundred living people have ever laid their eyes upon. I was rewarded for my hard work and mental stability with the sight of the Alabaster room - a memory I'd have for the rest of my life.

My passage/initiation through the gunbarrel was many years ago. I've learned that they've recently opened (discovered by digging out) an alternate path, a "bypass". Those persons physically or mentally unable to pass through the Gunbarrel can still get the reward of seeing what's beyond. For those that take the easy route, it's much like gazing at an image from the Hubble. Wonderful yes, but you didn't have to work as hard to get there.

The Gunbarrel reminded me of astronomy. We go through so much trouble for things that most people wouldn't bother with. We suffer through cold nights alone outdoors, mosquitos, the occasional skunk or racoon. We spend hours studying charts, memorizing archaic names of stars. We'll wait an extra two hours in the cold outdoors to watch one of the Galilean satellites emerge from Jupiter's shadow. We learn to function at our best with only a few hours sleep a day.

Most people are more than happy to look at a picture from the Hubble with just a fleeting glance. We don't partake in just a hobby. Astronomy is a passion, hard work and commitment that results in ourselves being some of the few people to ever gaze upon objects and distant worlds in real time. We gaze at these wonders and contemplate the universe, the small section of which we're feasting upon with our eyes. It was much like this sitting in the Alabaster room - in the dark, cold, wet and dirty, and exhausted - but having the knowledge that only a few people had ever made it as far as you. You could sit there for hours contemplating the hydro-geologic conditions that created the wonderful, pure white calcium deposits over tens or hundreds of thousands of years.

So from now on when someone asks, Astronomy is referred to as a passion of mine, not a hobby.

Here are some interesting pictures of Knox Cave I found when my past was revisited. So much has changed since then. A ladder? Geeez, how Hubble-like. :o)

Upcoming Total Lunar Eclipse

Thu, 30 Sep 2004 16:21:01 GMT

Astronomy

October 28th, favoring all of South America, and Eastern/Central North America, and Western Europe.

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/image1/Fig04-TLE2004Oct28.GIF

Penumbral Eclipse Begins:   00:05:35 UT
Partial Eclipse Begins:   01:14:25 UT
Total Eclipse Begins:   02:23:28 UT
Greatest Eclipse:   03:04:06 UT
Total Eclipse Ends:   03:44:43 UT
Partial Eclipse Ends:   04:53:44 UT
Penumbral Eclipse Ends:   06:02:44 UT