Posts Made By: Jason Fry

Hey folks, we still have some housing spots open for the 2nd annual Deep South Texas Stargaze, February 19-22, sponsored by the Kingsville Astronomical Society, and there's plenty of primitive camping (bathroom/showers available). We are the star party event farthest south in the continental U.S. other than WSP (that we know of), which is this same week. 28.05 deg N. Take a look at our website for registration information: http://www.geocities.com/kingsville_astronomical_society/dsts.htm. On the website we also have a link to our site's Clear Sky Clock (site is Escondido Ranch) which has us on the Bortle Scale map as having 7.1-7.5 magnitude skies. We could handle a few more people.

A photo of my wife and me with our new 16" f/4.5 Dob by NightSky Scopes, with a mirror by John Hall of Pegasus Optics (made mirrors for the original Starmasters and was Carl Zambuto's mentor). The mirror is 1/19.5 P-V Wafefron, 1/52 RMS, and .986 Strehl Ratio. The scope also has the electrical package (Astrosystems dew heater, telrad dew heater, charger) and Argo Navis Digital Setting Circles (although no ServoCat), and a Feathertouch focuser. This shot is on the first day of the Texas Star Party 2004 and the first time I set it up after bringing it home a couple of weeks before. For the last four years I used an Orion XT8, which I still have. It's a great little scope, but this baby is definitely stepping up in the observing world!

Did any of you folks see the first installment of the program on PBS "The Question of God: Sigmund Freud & C.S. Lewis"? The first two hours was tonight and the second part is on September 22. It was a fascinating program that not only included accounts of Freud and Lewis dramatized, but included a real dialogue between a panel of thinking folks moderated by a psychatrist, consisting of a publisher of The Skeptic - a naturalist/atheist (white male), a filmaker who was either agnostic of atheist (African-American male), a lawyer who would be described as agnostic (white male), an author (white female) and an Jungian analyst (white female) who were believers of sorts, although one was more theist, the other not, and I would not call either Christians, and a physician & scientist (Korean-American male) and a broker (white male) who appear so far to be Christian believers. They were all very intelligent, very articulate, and very much entered into dialogue with each other. The biographical & analytical material about Freud and Lewis was very fascinating, particularly due to the similarities of their life experiences and the divergence of the development of their beliefs/worldviews, and views on faith. I recommend you try to catch the 2nd installment next week. I ordered the DVD.

Jason Fry

There was a thread asking a question about Jewish understandings vis a vis Christian belief posted, I believe, by Christopher F. I had already replied once last night and was in the process of posting just now, and all of a sudden the whole thread disappeared. What's with that? Just wondering.

Jason Fry

Babylonia....wasn't that located in what is now Iran?

That would be Iraq. Iran is ancient Persia.

Jason

Craig,
IMHO, two of the best are Carl Zambuto of Zambuto Optical Co. and John Hall of Pegasus Optics. There are others who are also very good (Swayze, Royce, and others.) Zambuto is reputed to be the best (his mirrors are in Portaballs, Starmasters, Teleports), but he does not sell except to vendors. John Hall, on the other hand, is the one who first mentored Carl Zambuto in the art and science of mirror making, and you can order a mirror from him, although he also makes mirrors for other vendors (NightSky, SpaceWalk, Starsplitter, and others). I suggest you contact John. www.pegasusoptics.com.

Jason Fry

PS - BTW, I have a 16" NightSky Scope with a Pegasus mirror.

Hey folks,
I've considered using a paracorr with my 16" F/4.5 truss tube dob. I've understood others to refer to a alteration in focal ratio or focal length with the use of a paracorr. Could someone enlighten me as to how that is figured? My current scope is 1827mm focal length and F/4.5, as I said above. What would a paracorr convert it to?

Thanks,
Jason Fry

Dear fellow Astromarters,

The Kingsville Astronomical Society is planning our third annual Deep South Texas Stargaze coming up February 2-6, 2005 (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights). It is held in the warm climate of South TX, at 28 degrees north latitude. Held at Escondido Ranch, 2 hours south of San Antonio, 5 hours southwest of Houston. Very remote, dark sky location (7+ magnitude skies). A/C & heated lodge accommodations available, as well as RV full hookups, and tent camping. Restrooms with hot showers (no towels or bed linens provided). Although participants will have to provide their own food, there is a cooking/food preparation area available, as well as full-size refrigerators in each room.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me. (See the event on the A-Mart calendar.

Jason Fry

After interacting on this forum for a while, I'm curious about something: Why are folks who are A/A's interested in discussing these matters about religion? Some (not all) are so scornful of religious ideas and exude an attitude that would make this sort of discussion a waste of time. Still others (though not all) seem to be very set in their ways and certainly not "seeking" or even truly interested in further understanding. For those of us who are believers, I can understand the motivation for being here (most clearly my own). It's helpful for me to interact with those who hold a very different world view than my own. It helps me to both clarify my own beliefs, as well as to sharpen my ability to articulate my beliefs and thoughts, particularly to those who do not believe at all - also to do so in a way that respects others. It also could be said that those of us who are believers have a motivation to "win" others to what we believe is the truth. But I wouldn't think this last one would be true for A/A's who mostly seem to believe that such an endeavor is an inappropriate one. I've noticed a few who seem to have a primary motivation just to provoke believers (some have even stated this), although I don't think that's predominant, at least for the most part. I notice that many of A/A's are folks who were raised in some sort of religious background, which they later rejected. I wonder if there are those whose hanging around here indicates some sort of lingering impact of religion that draws them to this discussion, while maintaining a vociferous defense of atheism. I'm not seeking to apply this to anyone in particular (or to a group) - I'm just wondering. Could any of you enlighten me as to what draws you to this forum on religion, which you state unequivocally you have no interest in?

Respectully,
Jason

DSTS 05 is coming up in a couple of weeks Feb 2-6. We currently have about 60 people registered, and still have housing openings for bunks and primitive camping (family rooms and RV sites are booked). The long term weather report looks promising, and the skies are DARK! We will have a smaller scope observing list ("A Stroll Down Winter's Milky Way," aka "Galaxies? We Don't Need No Stink'n Galaxies.") and a larger aperture observing list ("Galaxies Rule.") See our website www.geocities.com/kingsville_astronomical_society/dsts.htm.

Jason Fry