Image of the day

Captured by
John Roach

Jupiter IO Transit 12-10-26

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Posts Made By: Fred Lusk

June 7, 2012 04:59 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

transit

Posted By Fred Lusk
Our club did a public event at the local university, but I hogged my Celestron CPC-800 during both 1st and 2nd contacts. I very clearly saw the "black drop" effect around 2nd contact but I did not notice the atmosphere. I also had my 5" SCT set up for time lapse photography, but I haven't had much time yet to go through the photos. I need to look at them specifically to see if I can detect the atmosphere, though I suspect our intermittent turbulence may make that difficult. BTW, both scopes had a Baader filter.

June 7, 2012 05:09 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Venus Annulus!

Posted By Fred Lusk
Excellent!

June 7, 2012 05:11 PM Forum: Wildlife Photography

Squirrel

Posted By Fred Lusk
Nice. Those little suckers usually don't stay still for more than a microsecond. BTW, it looks to me like he's begging to see the Venus transit.

June 23, 2012 09:16 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

The deep blue sea

Posted By Fred Lusk
That is the most incredible amateur image of the Sun I think I have ever seen.

July 12, 2012 05:47 AM Forum: Antique/Classic/Vintage Optical Instruments

15 Eerie Abandoned Observatories

Posted By Fred Lusk
Very cool. I've been to exactly one of these: Barcroft.

We visited the White Mtns about 10 years ago. By dumb luck, we were there the one day each year that the Mt Barcroft Reseach Station was open to the public. One of the scientists told me that the plateau above the station was the runner up site for the Keck telescopes. After touring the research station, I hiked up to the plateau to see the two old domes. The older of the two had some old bed frames in it.

July 25, 2012 08:54 PM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

Pluto 7/22/12

Posted By Fred Lusk
Steve…

I've seen Pluto several times in my 8" Celestron, so it's not out of reach of your C11. However, at 14th mag, conditions have to be right.

For me, it's been a combination of high elevation--Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park (7200') and Courtright Reservoir in eastern Fresno County (8200')--rock steady skies, very transparent air, and fully dark-adapted eyes. Three years ago at Courtright I even ID'ed several 15th mag stars near Pluto. On the other hand, last weekend at Courtright was not so good. The fringes of a summer monsoon left the air full of haze. So, although the skies ended up being very stable, I struggled to see beyond 11th mag.

July 27, 2012 05:35 PM Forum: Film Astrophotography - Imaging and Processing

Need a cable release for my Canon AE-1

Posted By Fred Lusk
I just checked Adorama and B&H, and both have them in stock. Some local stores may also have them.

July 28, 2012 10:58 PM Forum: Meteorites & Meteors

odd crater on Mars just discovered

Posted By Fred Lusk
Cool image. The crater looks to me like a frosted over Maksutov.

August 7, 2012 05:15 AM Forum: Celestron

Celestron's "Sky Align" system

Posted By Fred Lusk
Herbert…

I have a CPC-800, but I suspect the NexStar 8i handles this function the same.
[1] Hit UNDO as needed to back out of all menus.
[2] Hit ALIGN and follow the prompts to replace either your first object or UNASSIGNED (or hit UP or DOWN to replace the other one).
[3] After you're done with this object, you can hit ALIGN again and replace the other object.

Although SkyAlign uses three objects, this "manual" alignment can only do two.

August 12, 2012 12:51 AM Forum: Bad to the Bone Autos

Mustango went topless ...

Posted By Fred Lusk
When I was in college (late 1970s) after a night class…

I had pulled up to a stop light on the 6-lane road along the south side of the campus when I heard the tell-tale "RMMM-RMMM" of an impending street race. In the #1 lane was a 351 Cleveland Mustang. In the #2 lane was a Pontiac Grand Prix with a 350. I was in the #3 lane with my 1973 rotary engine Mazda RX-2.

When the light turned green I joined in even though I knew I couldn't beat either one. However, by the time we got to about 60 mph, the Mustang was only half a car length ahead of the Grand Prix, which was only half a car length ahead of me. At that moment, a very scraggly looking guy leaned out the front passenger window of the Grand Prix and yelled--and I quote--"DAYAM, that Jap car's fast!"

My car and I took that as a compliment. Just goes to show that a 120-hp engine with a 7000-rpm redline in a 2200-lb car with a tranny with new synchros can compete on the street.

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