St. Lou, MO Astronomy

I could go where it's warm....but what fun is that?

 

The other night when I went out to take those pictures, it was well below freezing. My roomate's telescope had frost form on its tube. My girlfriend was freezing to two death in a heavy sweater, wool cloak, and my heavy winter coat.

Moral of the story: Astronomy is all about freezing your ass off.

 

Think they'd let me take my telescope?

If you let me have all the bubble paper they will. I loves the bubble paper. It goes pop...pop...pop...popop...popopop...popopopopopopopop ...popopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopop...

Yep, think I had waaaaaay too much coffee today.

 

I'd agree. Waaaaaayyyyyy too much coffee. Meanwhile, I'm bummin it's raining right now and I won't get to go observe tonight

 

Isn't that the way it ALWAYS goes when you get a cool new toy?

 

If you let me have all the bubble paper they will. I loves the bubble paper. It goes pop...pop...pop...popop...popopop...popopopopopopopop ...popopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopopop
opopop...


BUBBLE PAPER!!
Such a good stress reliever.

When I don't have bubble paper...
http://www.snapbubbles.com/

 

That was awesome JCF!! popopopopopopopopopop

 

YAY! Clear skies tonight! And Saturn's up....

Oooh. And a comet.

 

Argh. I got my pictures back today and not a single one came out. They were all completely underexposed. Which doesn't seem right. I must not have adjusted the aperature settings properly.

Anyway, I did find the comet that's out. If you're in a dark location, it's a little south west of Orion. I was able to spot it with my naked eye. Dajuan and I are considering going out somewhere dark after the fan force meeting and doing some observing if anyone else is interested.

 

Really? That might be interesting... You won't find a lot of good places to see the stars around here though. Depends on how cold it is too...

 

Dajuan and I are considering going out somewhere dark after the fan force meeting

You know if you only read that part of the sentance, red flags start to come up.

You get a picture of the comet, Jon?

 

Even if I had, it wouldn't have turned out.

 

Just a reminder, tonight is the peak of the Geminids meteor shower. If you have a chance to get somewhere dark, head outside (with a blanket) and watch the skies for awhile.

I'll be out taking pictures so hopefully I'll have some good ones to show off in a day or two.

 

Any specific time tonight?

 

Around midnight is best. If you missed it tonight, it should be good for a few more nights.

I got 2 hours out observing. I started off getting out just before 9 and had Vicky (my g/f) find the Orion Nebula and Saturn quickly to get warmed up (she's still learning telescope usage). I then found the comet that was out again. By then, the traffic on the road we were parked next to had slowed down to roughly one every 5-10 minutes so we figured we could start taking the longer exposures to catch a few meteors.

Over the course of the night the three of us saw nearly 100 meteors. Most of them were small, but 3 were spectacular fireballs that left trails of smoke as they burned through the atmosphere. The first was so bright, it cast shadows. We think we caught 2 of the three fireballs on camera. However, headlights from passing cars may have washed the exposures out. I'm really hoping they didn't, but I'll find out in a few days when I get the film developed. If it's still clear Wed night, I'll probably be heading out again.

EDIT: I'm also in the newspaper again (but this time not my pictures).

[image=http://s94958815.onlinehome.us/astronomy/images/article2.jpg]

 

That's certainly cool you were mentioned. I told my parents about the meteor shower and my Dad, true to form said; "I saw one early this morning" I thought....he couldn't be up THAT early, but he said, it turned out to be Sputnik. I slapped my palm to my head....that's his sense of humor. I hope you got a picture of that fireball. I've never seen anything like that from my house....oh wait, I live in one of the worst light pollution areas for miles....my bad.

 

I don't think Sputnik is in orbit anymore. And I'm certainly hoping I got the fireball. As far as light pollution, on campus here, it's hard to make out Orion. But I was still able to catch some meteors a few years ago during the Leonids. The fireballs I saw were easily bright enough to be seen from the middle of the city.

 

I saw one around 5:45am from the middle of downtown...it was a big bright one.

 

I got the pictures back today. Apparently I missed both fireballs and didn't appear to catch any fainter meteors either.

Anyway, here's the pictures I did get.

[image=http://s94958815.onlinehome.us/astronomy/images/gemini-saturn.jpg]
This one is of the Gemini constellation. I was hoping to get a few meteors coming out of the radiant, but apparently, they didn't want to cooperate. The bright object at the bottom is Saturn.

[image=http://s94958815.onlinehome.us/astronomy/images/trailsnearpolaris.jpg]
This one was near Cassopeia. The fireball must have gone right underneath the frame in this one. Damn, damn, dammity damn.

[image=http://s94958815.onlinehome.us/astronomy/images/taurustrails.jpg]
This one is of Taurus. The fireball that passed near this one went right above the frame.

Meanwhile, I'm currently working on a project to photograph the moon every night for the full lunar cycle and then make an animation of the moon phases.

 

"Meanwhile, I'm currently working on a project to photograph the moon every night for the full lunar cycle and then make an animation of the moon phases. "

Ever try an analemma (sp?) My professor a year or so ago did one and it was pretty neat.

 

I've never tried one, because of the difficulty involved. To do it, you have to have the camera in the exact same position every day.

Also, I've got some new pictures developed, but don't have my scanner at this house. As soon as I get it hooked up again, I'll post them.

 

My webpage has been updated with several new pics. Two of them my g/f took. Currently, some of the links are down, because my FTP is being stupid. I'll get them fixed soon though.

 

Wow Jon! I am very impressed. You have some great pictures there. I am very jealous...

Hopefully the sky will clear while we are in CO, it would be great to see the stars again, instead of smog...

 

Those are great pics Jon, regardless of what you say about them.

 

I fixed the dead links. All should work now.