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What's New Choosing A Telescope Telescope Aperture Considerations The Bonds: Pioneers of American Astronomy Refractor Dobsonian Style Mounts Saturn Drawings Jupiter Drawings Mars Drawings Comet Drawings Solar Drawings Shuttle Drawing Deep-Sky Drawings Introduction to Planetary Drawings Saturn's Encke Minima and Encke Division Astronomy Humor 2001 and 2002 Leonid Meteor Shower Equipment Reviews Links Nature and Travel Photography Astrophotography Glossary Visual Observations Home |
In memory of 9/11/01 To make it easier to find new additions on my web page I will list them here. "I told my boss he had to start paying me what I was worth. He said, I am sorry, but it is illegal for me to pay you less than the minimum wage." -- a DJ on a radio station whose name I didn't catch. "May I have 10,000 marbles please?" Flounder from the movie Animal House. Humphrey Bogart (Rick): "How can you close me up? On what grounds?" Captain Renault: "What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?" (Rick and Renault discussing Victor Laszlo's chances of escaping Casablanca) Quotes from the movie Casablanca "...those who love their pillow [will] lie down in Peace on the second of this month and not perhaps awake until the morning of the fourteenth." Benjamin Franklin, referring to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. By 1752 the Julian calendar was eleven days off of the solar year. So to adjust to the new calendar the colonists in North America simply skipped the days between September 2nd and September 14th, 1752. In memory of the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, Challenger, Apollo 1, and the men and women of other countries who have given their lives to learn more about the universe, the poem High Flight was added, which is considered the best-known poem among aviators and astronauts. "If climate change is taking place, it will be noticed in the polar regions of the Earth first." Dr. Helmut Landsberg (1906-1985) is considered to be the father of modern climatology. Evidence indicates that his prediction, made in 1983, appears to be correct. New information was added to the Refractor Dobsonian Style Mounts page, and an observing report of the recent total lunar eclipse was added March 17th, 2008. An observing report of Venus, Jupiter, and the Moon was added February 4th, 2008. An observing report of Comet 8P Tuttle was added January 12th, 2008. New material was added to the Mars Nomenclature page on December 10th, 2007. Four sketches of Comet 17P Holmes were added November 25th, 2007. They show the comet with a tail, the comet shortly after the tail disconnected, and as it slowly grew back again. To see all four sketches and observations click on the above link, scroll down to the bottom and click the right hand arrow button. An sketch of Comet 17P Holmes, showing the beginnings of a tail, was added November 7th, 2007. An sketch of Comet 17P Holmes was added November 4th, 2007. An observing report of Comet 17P Holmes, which appears to be developing a tail, was added October 31st, 2007. An observing report of Mars, Venus, Saturn, and deep-sky objects was added October 25th, 2007. An observing report of Mars, Venus, Saturn, the Moon and deep-sky objects was added October 8th, 2007. A remembrance of Thomas M. Back, a good friend and gifted optical designer, was added on September 29th, 2007. Initial impressions of the Tele-Vue 13mm Ethos eyepiece, an observing report of Jupiter, Vesta, Uranus, Mars, the Moon and deep-sky objects, and the words to my favorite astronomy poem The Star-Splitter, were added September 9th, 2007. New additions were made to the Jupiter Nomenclature page on July 12th, 2007. During the current opposition of Jupiter the South Equatorial Belt has partially faded. This happened back during the 1987 opposition of Jupiter also, where the South Equatorial Belt was not visible, except around ovals BC and DE. Also noted during that opposition was a very unusual number of dark spots that were visible in the North Polar Region. I added six sketches that I made of Jupiter during the 1987 opposition on June 28th, 2007. To see all six sketches and observations click on the above link, scroll down to the bottom and click the right hand arrow button. An observing report of the International Space Station and Space Shuttle Atlantis was added June 24th, 2007. An observing report of deep-sky objects was added May 21st, 2007. An observing report of Venus, Saturn and deep-sky objects was added May 14th, 2007. An observing report of Jupiter and deep-sky objects was added April 22nd, 2007. An observing report of Total Eclipse of the Moon was added March 3rd, 2007. A review of the TMB Optical 40mm Paragon 2" Eyepiece was added February 22nd, 2007. An observing report of Comet C/2006 P1 McNaught was added January 17th, 2007. An observing report of Saturn was added December 30th, 2006. An sketch of Comet C/2006 M4 SWAN was added October 29th, 2006. An observing report of Comet C/2006 M4 SWAN, which has recently undergone an outburst, was added October 25th, 2006. An observing report of Comet C/2006 M4 SWAN was added October 18th, 2006. A sketch of Jupiter was added on September 25th, 2006. An observing report of Saturn occultation of a star was added September 1st, 2006. An observing report of the Perseid meteor shower was added August 20th, 2006. An observing report of deep-sky objects was added August 14th, 2006. New information on Jupiter's Red Jr. was added on June 10th, 2006. A sketch of Jupiter was added on June 6th, 2006. An observing report of Jupiter was added May 29th, 2006. Sketches of 73P-Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, components B and C (2006) were added on May 21st, 2006. A new map for locating 73P-Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 was added May 18th, 2006. Sketches of 73P-Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, components B and C (2006) were added on May 16th, 2006. New information on and maps for locating 73P-Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 were added May 8th, 2006. Sketches of 73P-Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, components B and C (2006) were added on May 7th, 2006. New information on and maps for locating 73P-Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 were added May 3rd, 2006. Sketches of 73P-Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, components B and C (2006) were added on April 29th, 2006. Additional information was added to the Saturn's Encke Minima and Encke Division article on April 22nd, 2006. The article on Saturn's Encke Minima and Encke Division was updated and expanded on April 21st, 2006. Also new information was added to the Comet 73P-Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 page. Additional information on and maps for locating 73P-Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, which may reach 4th magnitude in May, was added April 12th, 2006. Information on and maps for locating 73P-Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, which may reach 4th magnitude in May, was added March 27th, 2006. A sketch of Comet Pojmanski (C/2006 A1) was added on March 11th, 2006. A sketch of Comet Pojmanski (C/2006 A1) was added on March 6th, 2006. Additional information was added to the maps for locating the Comet Pojmanski, and new deep-sky observations using the Oberwerk 22x100mm binoculars, were added March 3rd, 2006. A second map for locating the Comet Pojmanski, this one from 30 degrees north latitude, was added March 2nd, 2006. An observing report of Comet Pojmanski (C/2006 A1), as well as a map for locating the comet from 40 degrees north latitude, was added March 1st, 2006. A review of the Antares 7 x 50mm and 12 x 80mm Right Angle Correct Image Finders was added February 26th, 2006. Some new tests were run with the Baader Planetarium's UHC-S Nebula Filter, as well as the Baader Planetarium's OIII filter, and the results were added on February 21st, 2006. A review of Baader Planetarium's UHC-S Nebula Filter, and the article on Choosing A Telescope was updated on February 21st, 2006. An observing report of deep-sky objects and Saturn was added January 30th, 2006. An observing report of Moon, planets, and deep-sky observations was added January 24th, 2006. Additional reviews of Baader Planetarium's Astronomical Filters, including the Moon & Skyglow, Semi-APO, and Contrast-Booster were added on January 8th, 2006. A review of Baader Planetarium's Astronomical Filters was added on January 3rd, 2006. More new material was added to the Saturn Nomenclature page on December 27th, 2005. New material was added to the Saturn Nomenclature page on December 10th, 2005. A sketch of Mars using some new colors to represent the Martian Mare, as well as new material was added to the Mars Nomenclature was added on November 26th, 2005. New material was added to the Mars Nomenclature page on November 19th, 2005. An observing report of Mars, the Moon, and the Orion Nebula was added November 13th, 2005. New material was added to the Mars Nomenclature page on October 30th, 2005. A sketch of Mars was added on October 23rd, 2005. An observing report of a Martian Dust Storm, the Moon and Saturn was added October 21st, 2005. A letter by Caroline Herschel was added on October 17th, 2005. A sketch of Mars was added on October 10th, 2005. In addition some new information was added to the Mars Nomenclature page. A sketch of Mars was added on September 30th, 2005. An observing report of Mercury, Mars, Saturn, the Moon, and deep-sky objects was added September 24th, 2005. New material was added to the Mars Nomenclature page on August 28th, 2005. Please note that the name of the page has been changed from mars_color.html to mars_nomenclature.html, although the old link will continue to work for a while (the same holds true for the Saturn and Jupiter nomenclature pages). Also some new photographs were added to the homemade Refractor Dobsonian Style Mounts page. Additional material was added to the Mars Nomenclature page on August 14th, 2005. The Mars Nomenclature page was updated and expanded on August 7th, 2005. An observing report of Mars and deep-sky objects was added July 22nd, 2005. An observing report of the conjunction of Mercury, Venus, and Saturn was added July 2nd, 2005. An observing report of Mars, Uranus, and deep-sky objects was added May 31st, 2005. An observing report of Mars, the Moon, and deep-sky objects was added May 11th, 2005. An observing report of the Moon, planets, and deep-sky objects was added May 2nd, 2005. An observing report of deep-sky, the Moon and planets was added April 4th, 2005 (corrected this time as the previous link was broken). The article An Introduction to Planetary Drawing was updated on March 9th, 2005. Some new photographs were added to the article on Saturn's Encke Minima and Encke Division, and the article Choosing A Telescope was updated on February 22nd, 2005. A sketch of Comet Machholz, as well as an observing report of the comet was added on January 7th, 2005. The Astronomical Glossary was updated and expanded on December 29th, 2004. In addition, photographs were added to the Deep-Sky Astrophotography page of the equipment and accessories that I used to take the astrophoto's. A sketch of Comet Machholz was added on December 20th, 2004. An observing report of Occultation of Jupiter by the Moon was November 9th, 2004. An observing report of deep-sky objects, Venus and Saturn was added October 26th, 2004. Additional close up photographs were added to the review of the Starmaster 14.5" (SM) f/4.3 reflector on October 17th, 2004. A review of the Starmaster 14.5" (SM) f/4.3 reflector was on September 19th, 2004. An observing report of deep-sky objects and the Moon was added August 20th, 2004. Additonal observations were added to the review of the Oberwerk 22x100mm binoculars on July 18th, 2004. A review of the Oberwerk 22x100mm binoculars was added on July 13th, 2004. After selling my Astro-Physics refractors I invested in two new telescopes including a Starmaster 14.5" (SM) reflector and TMB 175mm f/8 refractor. I have posted an initial review of the TMB 175mm on June 26th, 2004. I will be adding an initial review of the SM 14.5" in the near future. An observing report of the Venus transit across the Sun was added June 12th, 2004. A sketch of Comet NEAT was added on May 23rd, 2004. The review of the TMB Optical Super Monocentric Eyepieces, was updated on May 2nd, 2004 with a photograph of the new 16mm, 14mm, 12mm, 9mm, and 7mm parafocal eyepieces. A sketch of Comet Bradfield made on April 30th, 2004 was added. On April 16th, 2004 I added a description of the homemade Dobsonian-style mounts I built for my refractors. On March 21st, 2004 I updated my comet sketches. I make my comet sketches using a white pencil on black paper. While these give a good indication of how the object appears through the eyepiece some of the finer detail may not be visible when viewed on a monitor. So I have added comet sketches showing a white background which makes it easier to see the detail. A sketch of Saturn, as well as a review of the new TMB Optical Super Monocentric Eyepieces, was added on January 17th, 2004. Astrophotographs of recent Aurora and Total Lunar Eclipse were added on November 24th, 2003. A new eyepiece comparison between the Panoptic 41mm and Panoptic 35mm, as well as the Nagler 22mm Type 4 and Nagler 20mm Type 5 was added to the Equipment Reviews page. Also an observing report of the Total Lunar Eclipse that occurred on the night of November 8th/9th 2003 was added on November 10th, 2003. A sketch of Mars was added on September 28th, 2003. A sketch of Mars was added on September 5th, 2003. A sketch of Mars was added on August 17th, 2003. The Mars Nomenclature page was updated and expanded on August 12th, 2003. It includes a discussion of Martian surface and atmospheric features, how they are produced, and filters that help to enhance these features. The Mars Nomenclature page was updated on July 30th, 2003 with sketches from the 1986 and 1988 Mars oppositions. During these oppositions the diameter of Mars reached 23.19" and 23.81" respectively, only slightly smaller than the diameter Mars will reach on August 28th, 2003 of 25.11". A link to Ralph Aeschliman Mars maps was added on July 1st. Ralph's Mars maps appeared in the June 2003 issue of S&T on page 97, and a short bio of Ralph appears on page 96 of that issue. These maps are a great reference for Mars observers so I thought I would pass the link along to other observers. A link to an astronomical cartoon that observers can identify with was added to the Astronomy Humor page on June 30th. Also Michael Oschepkov, an amateur astronomer from Russia, recently translated my article on the Encke Minima/Encke Division for his astronomy organization and placed it on their web page. Another amateur astronomer, Eiji Kato, translated my article on the Bonds into Japanese and placed it on his web page. A review of the Sirius Optics Planetary Contrast (PC1) Filter, which helps to enchance some planetary features including those on Mars, was added on June 8th, 2003. Also some suggested filters for Mars was added to the Mars Nomenclature page. My deep-sky sketches are made using a white pencil on black paper. While these give a good indication of how the object appears through the eyepiece some of the finer detail may not be visible when viewed on a monitor. So I have added some deep-sky sketches showing a white background which makes it easier to see the detail on April 19th, 2003. A sketch of Mars was added on March 24th, 2003. A sketch of Jupiter was added on March 19th, 2003. I have added some new information on my comet sketches that I have made since 1986. Also a new star diagonal comparison was added to the Equipment Reviews page on March 9th, 2003. A new eyepiece comparison was added to the Equipment Reviews page on February 23rd, 2003. The An Introduction to Planetary Drawing article was updated and expanded on January 24th, 2003. Another sketch of Saturn was added on January 23rd, 2003. A sketch of Saturn, as well as information on Asaph Hall, who discovered the moons of Mars, were added on January 20th, 2003. Some new Equipment Reviews were added on January 12th, 2003. A sketch of The Crab Nebula (M1, NGC 1952) and Saturn was added on January 5th, 2003. A report on the 2002 Leonid Meteor Shower was added on December 21, 2002. A sketch of Saturn made on December 8th, 2002. The Equipment Reviews were updated and expanded on November 27th, 2002. The article on Saturn's Encke Minima and Encke Division was updated and expanded on November 16th, 2002. The Saturn Nomenclature page was updated and expanded on November 11th, 2002. In honor of Veterans Day, Abraham Lincoln's complete Gettysburg Address, was added on November 10th, 2002. It includes some historical background information on the speech and how a friend of the Bonds was involved in the dedication of the National Cemetary at Gettysburg. An article on The Bonds: Pioneers of American Astronomy, was added on October 26th, 2002. A sketch of Jupiter, and Saturn made October 6th, 2002. A sketch of The Saturn Nebula (NGC 7009) was added on October 1st, 2002. A sketch of Saturn made September 10th, 2002. A sketch of Jupiter made September 8th, 2002, and made September 10th, 2002 were added. A sketch of The Veil Nebula (NGC 6960, 6992-6995) was added on September 8th, 2002. A sketch of Saturn made August 22nd, 2002. I have added some deep-sky astrophotos to my Astrophotography page on August 4th 2002. A number of new links on the Herschel's have been added to my Links page under Deep-Sky and Double Star Websites. A sketch of The North American Nebula (NGC 7000) made on July 11-12, 2002. Some suggested Astronomy Books were added, as was a list of Publications, and exposure information on the lunar photographs on my Astrophotography page were added on June 24th. A sketch of M51 made on June 7-8, 2002 was added, as was a sketch of M101 made on June 2-3, 2002. Also recent observations of other deep-sky objects observed on the same nights were added. Some new Nature and Travel photographs have been added to my images page. I have added some lunar photographs I have taken over the years on my Astrophotography page. In the future I plan to add some deep-sky images as well. A sketch of Comet Ikeya-Zhang made on May 4th, 2002 was added. A sketch of Comet Ikeya-Zhang made on April 21st, 2002 was added. A sketch of Comet Ikeya-Zhang made on April 11th, 2002 was added. A sketch of Comet Ikeya-Zhang made on April 6th, 2002 was added. A number of new links have been added to my Links page, and a recent observation of Barnard's Loop was added on April 6, 2002. Another sketch of Comet Ikeya-Zhang made on March 16th, 2002 was added. A sketch of Comet Ikeya-Zhang made on March 11th, 2002 was added. A sketch of The California Nebula (NGC 1499) was added March 2, 2002. A sketch of Jupiter made February 25rd, 2002. A sketch of Jupiter, and Saturn made January 23rd, 2002. On the Glossary page the section on Seeing has been updated and expanded to include a discussion of how the wind direction can be used an an indicator of which nights may be better suited to observe deep-sky objects or the planets. A sketch of Jupiter, and Saturn made December 31st, 2001. Also, the Glossary page has been updated to include a discussion about using the dew point, rather then relative humidity, to determine when to have a dew zapper handy when observing, and why the opposition of Mars in 2005, rather then 2003, may be better for observers in the Northern Hemisphere. Also the section on seeing has been updated and expanded as well. The Jupiter Nomenclature page has been updated and expanded on January 3, 2002, including definitions of Jovian features, and abbreviations of the zones and belts. A sketch of Jupiter made December 23rd, 2001. Also, a Glossary of astronomical terms has been added. A sketch of Saturn, Jupiter, and Comet LINEAR C/2000 WM1 made December 8th, 2001. A sketch of Saturn made November 10th, 2001. A report on the 2001 Leonid Meteor Shower from November 18, 2001. A sketch of Saturn and Jupiter made October 5th, 2001. A sketch of Saturn made September 6th, 2001. A discussion of Telescope Aperture Considerations has been added. A sketch of M17 made July 26th/27th, 2001. A sketch of Comet LINEAR C/2001 A2 made on July 15, 2001. A sketch of Comet LINEAR C/2001 A2 made on July 3, 2001. A sketch of Mars made on June 23rd, 2001. The Mars Nomenclature page has been updated and expanded with additional sketches. A sketch of M53 made on April 28th, 2001. The Astronomy Humor page has been updated and some new links have been added to my Links page. The article on The Encke Minima and Encke Division in Saturn's A-Ring has been updated and expanded. A recent photograph of Arches National Park, Utah. A recent photograph of Grand Canyon of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Some new links have been added to my Links page. A sketch of M3 made on April 28th, 2001. Last Updated: March 17th, 2008 |