Hypography Science Forums: deamonstar - Viewing Profile - Hypography Science Forums

Hey friends. sorry I haven't been around for awhile. I've been occupied with a great deal of things as of late so, I've had little time to pursue my scientific passions.
The things that have otherwise taken my attention:
I am preparing to relocate by way of remodeling my house. the kitchen is the one major area that I've been working on. I am doing all of the labor myself. I have stripped the kitchen of all walls and sheetrocked and mudded them. A few coats of paint for the walls and all mouldings was taken care of by myself too. I have installed a new sub-floor and flooring (a vast improvement over the previous floor). New lighting has been added to accentuate the new look and, I must say, I am quite pleased with the results.
I hope to have the house ready for sale shortly. I have yet to finish spackling and sanding my dining-room to get ready for paint and trim. A few more week-ends should have that portion of the project complete. I still have even begin to look for new accomodations. I would prefer to live out of the city as the schools in the area are less than exemplary and not a place that I wish my children to attain their education. A place in the county-side should suffice for the scenery is much more relaxing and the schools are less stressed with student/teacher ratios.
I am also trying to start my own buisness. At the moment, I am in the residential framing industry. Don't get me wrong, I like my job and those that I work with (they trully are a great group of guys) however, it can be quite physically hard and often leaving me exhausted with liitle energy to see to my family duties such as cooking dinner, helping the kids with homework, taking them to tae-kwon-do practice and keeping the house from falling into a shambles of clutter and disorganization. But the main thing is that I realize that I cannot continue to be in this line of work forever. What I have been doing is trying to start up my own custom chopper bicycle building shop. I have fabricated and completed one bike so far and it is already receiving rave response from passers-by, neighbors, workmates and, most importantly to me, my peers who have long been in the custom bicycle industry. The bike that I have built has won the Bike Of the Month at one of the custom bikes forums that I have begun to frequent for tips on construction and advice and helpful criticizims.
If you would like to see the bike, it can be found at the main page of Kustom Cruisers about halfway down the page.
I also have a photo gallery of it at the forums there. if you would like to see the full spread then click HERE
I wish that I could at least be stargazing or be able to take my telescope out to a dark-sky site but, what with all of the hurricanes coming around, the skies seem perpetually overcast and the humidity quickly fogs up the mirrors on my scope rendering it completely useless.
If all of this were not enough, I have been suffering a case something akin to walking-pneumonia (indeed this is what my wife has diagnosed me with because I am too stubborn to see my doctor. I am still functioning so I don't need a doctor... yet.).
I have not forgotten about this wonderful forums. indeed, I do occasionally drop by to catch up on some reading even though I haven't (regrettfully) posted anything in some time. And due to my appearant absence, Tormod has recently sent an inquiring e-mail as to my whereabouts. This has prompted me to drop by and give everyone a heads-up. I will make an effort to become active again. To be a part of all the usually banddying of intellectual stimulations.
Untill next time however, see ya'll later!

did anyone else get to witness the lunar eclipse?
I watched the whole show. it was spectacular! saw it naked eye, with binos and through my 8" scope. great with each one. took a few pictures by way of eyepiece projection with my digital camera. the photos didn't come out as well as I would have liked... probably due to its fast shutter speed (which is not adjustable). editing the photos only resulted in very minor contrast improvement, but not significant enough to make quality prints of.
anyway... I had a great time with the observing. my 5 yo son was just as entusiastic as I was. my 12 yo son (who has NO interest in astronomy whatsoever) even came outside and thought it was pretty cool and also liked the view of m47 through the binos and the double cluster through the scope.
I am so glad that I got to see this one considering the previous one was clouded out at my location. can't wait till the next one! well... I guess it's almost time for some good meteor showers!
clear skies!

the most powerful explosions in the universe... impossible to predict. difficult to find. and deadly if you stand in its way. gamma ray bursts are the final death blow of the most ancient, massive stars in the universe.
there has been recent speculation that a gamma ray burst may have been responsible for the extinction of life on earth millions of years ago. and it wasn't even in our own galaxy! the fact that a grb a few billion light years away can have such an impact on life here on earth should come as a shock to most people. but, considering just how powerful a grb can be, I believe that we (or more specifficaly, astronomers with the proper detection equipment) should spend more time searching for these potention death bombs from space. and study more carefully what makes these time-bombs tick so that we can search for potential gamma ray bursters here in our own galactic neck of the woods.

for further reading go here here

I am considering asking for a new 2"focuser for my 8" newt telescope for x-mas. the original rack and pinion one on mine is worthless. it has a serious wobble which makes it very hard to keep an object in focus. the focus lock is of minimal help as I kinda have to get an object slightly out of focus so that when I do lock it in it will refocus itself. if not out of focus, it will certainly be slightly out of alignment, leaving me with distorted images.

I would like some recomendations on the various types of focusers (preferrably from first-hand experience) within a reasonable pricerange.

this past monday, I took my 5 year-old son to a suitable dark-sky location on the night of the new moon. it was an exceptionally clear and steady night. we set up the 8" eq newt and I let him "sight in" polaris. using the polar scope is his favorite... probably because it has a reticle and looks cooler. just as we were finishing the set up, two other people were driving by (it is an all hours wildlife preserve open to the public) and asked 'what is that bright orange thing up there?'... of course it was mars and I asked them if they wanted a peek. the two of them, father and pre-teen son, got out of their jeep cherokee and were impressed with my e-bay 'helios explorer' and its views of the red planet. but, I told them 'that is nothing', let me show you some of my favorites (I'm a dso kinda guy). I turned towards the double cluster and explained a bit about how dense the star-fields are... they were in awe. next we went to m-31 and they were equally impressed. after a minor discussion about our telescopes, they inquired about those scopes that advertise magnifying powers instead of 'size'. they were only slightly confused at first until I explained the way that 'powers' are calculated and how those 'cheap scopes' can't actually support those kind of magnifications. I then showed them a few things with my 10x50 binos. they had no idea how much binos helped out and were also impressed that they could see so much more than they expected with binos. after some more small chit-chat, they were on ther way.
my son and I viewed a few more dso's in sagitarius and the milky way band, played around with my home-made laser collimator (that was the most fun for him), and then we too were on our way.
I think I resparked intrest in this hobby for someone whom I have never met before, and likely never again, and also a new interest for my son... in just a few short hours of sharing something that belongs to all of us... the wonders of the night sky. I guess what I'm trying to say is... get out there and observe and if you can pass on a little bit of your love for astronomy and just maybe, you will have made another astronomer out of someone.