Welcome to my page on astronomy. Here I'll have some RSS feeds from news sources as well as the link to the originating
site. Also I'll have astrophotos I've taken. I'll try my best to keep an updated log
of my observations here as well as the equipment and software I have.
Below are some funny lists I found on the old RASC page.
You Know You Are A Deep Sky Observer When . . .
You frequently wish Earth had no moon.
You consider Jupiter "light pollution".
You consider meteors "light pollution".
You consider the Milky Way "light pollution".
You pack Dry Ice around your head to reduce the "noise" from your retina and optic nerve.
You refuse to use the ladder with your 20" f/6 at the Winter Star Party stating, "If I use that, the objects are too far north."
You consider the H-II regions of distant galaxies as individual observing targets.
You like to choose objects that are easier to imagine than to see.
Your observing schedule demands that you search for objects in twilight.
You wonder how your favorite objects missed getting included in the New General Catalog or the Index Catalog.
You're not sure that anything in this solar system counts as Astronomy any more.
You're amazed that anyone needs artificial light to read charts.
You could do a Messier Marathon from memory, if you still bothered with Messier objects.
You can read all the NGC abbreviated visual descriptions without using the key, but you have to be careful not to cheat by just remembering what things look like.
You view a major earthquake as an opportunity for a close-in dark-sky star party.
You believe M13 ruined your dark adaptation.
You welcome (and have even considered instigating) power cuts, but only if they occur on clear moonless nights.
You observe M42 at the end of the sessions because it does ruin dark adaptation!
Your choice of a new vehicle is determined by the size of your scope.
Vacation time is planned around the Winter and Canadian (or other) Star parties.
Your ideal telescope would be immovable.
You prep your eyes by applying pupil dilating drops until they open to 10mm.
Instead of vitamins you take bilberry pills.
You actually know where to get bilberry jam, and make a point of consuming some prior to observing sessions.
You'd rather observe than go on a hot date.
For some reason you're always depressed when that time of the month (full moon) occurs.
In preparation for another DSO bout, you carefully massage your eyes to make sure all your rods are discharged.
You complain you can't really see the faint stuff because the Gegenschein is too bright.
You actually use Uranometria, and can quote page numbers.
You frequently disagree with Burnhams, and have seriously considered publishing your own "observer's guide".
You see more DSOs on your laptop screen during an evenings' observing session than you do through the eyepiece.
You have blackened the edges of your eyeglasses.
You are briefly taken aback by the brightness of a normal flashlight under "normal flashlight" circumstances (e.g. power outages).
You hire a crop duster to spray the surrounding area because last night the fire flies kept ruining your dark adaptation.
You wear sun screen & sun glasses during full moon periods.
You've been thinking that a 14th century black monk's hood is a pretty cool idea.
The dome light of your car is painted red.
You paint the red LED's on your equipment with red fingernail polish so that they are dimmer.
You begin to realize that even the deepest red flash light is affecting your vision.
You remove the LED on your drive control panel, because that ruins your dark adaptation.
You use an infrared flashlight.
You keep thinking that if only the stars would go away, it might really get dark.
You always set your scope up so that you can't move your car until daylight.
You bring 4 litres of coffee (or 12 pack of Diet Coke) to the viewing session. If the caffeine doesn't keep you awake the urge to "go" does.
Who needs caffeine? The passion for observing is the high.
You have elective surgery to replace your eye's natural lenses with f/0.8, oil-spaced, apochromatic triplet objectives designed by Roland Christen.
You're caught by the police climbing light poles at night trying to "unscrew" the bulbs.
You ask your neighbors over to star gaze, so they will know to turn out their porch lights.
You can talk with a red flashlight in your mouth.
You can understand somebody else talking with a red flashlight in their mouth.
You believe bug repellent messes up your coatings, so you've become adept at slapping mosquitoes without moving your eyes or bumping the scope.
Every November you are terrified that the Leonids might storm and mess up your observations.
Your wife hires a skywriter to tell you to come home.
You have Kendrick dew heaters on your eyeglasses.
You insist that your optician put anti-reflection coatings on your contact lenses.
Top Ten Differences between Astronomers and Astrologers
10. Astronomers never try to contact dead astrologers.
9. Nancy Reagan never asked an astronomer for advice.
8. An astronomer plans an evening according to the position of the stars, planets, etc. An astrologer plans their life according to the positions of the stars, planets, etc.
7. Telescopes come in a staggering array of shapes and sizes. All Ouija boards look the same.
6. Carl Sagan did not have a 900 number.
5. Your VISA limit is of very little interest to an astronomer.
4. Astronomers occasionally make accurate predictions.
3. Alcohol makes complex astronomical concepts more difficult to comprehend. It makes astrological concepts easier.
2. Transposing two astronomical objects' coordinates makes a huge difference. Transposing two peoples' horoscopes makes no difference at all.
1. Astronomers believe in the truth of relativity. Astrologers believe in the relativity of truth.
The Ten Commandments for Amateur Astronomers
I. Thou shalt have no white light before thee, behind thee, or to the side of thee whilst sharing the night sky with thy fellow stargazers.
II. Thou shalt not love thy telescope more than thy spouse or thy children; as much as, maybe, but not more.
III. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's telescope, unless it exceeds in aperture or electronics twice that of thy wildest dreams.
IV. Thou shalt not read Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, SkyNews or any other astronomy related publication on company time, for thine employer makes it possible to continue thine astronomical hobby.
V. Thou shalt have at least two telescopes so as to keep thy spouse interested when the same accompanies thee under the night sky or on eclipse expeditions to strange lands where exotic wild animals doth roam freely.
VI. Thou shalt not allow either thy sons or thy daughters to get married during the Holy Days of Starfest.
VII. Thou shalt not reveal to thy spouse the true cost of thy telescope collection; only the individual components and that shall be done with great infrequency.
VIII. Thou shalt not buy thy spouse any lenses, filters, dew shields, maps, charts, or any other necessities for Chanukah, anniversaries, or birthdays unless thy spouse needs them for their own telescope.
IX. Thou shalt not deceive thy spouse into thinking that ye are taking them for a romantic Saturday night drive when indeed thou art heading for a dark sky site.
X. Thou shalt not store thy telescope in thy living room, dining room, or bedroom, lest thou be sleeping with it full time.
My news page has a collection of RSS feeds of the latest happenings in the world of astronomy.
My photos page has a collection of astrophotos I've taken thus far.
My log page as its title suggest, is where I upload my logs.
Here are some sites of interest:
Still looking for astronomy resources? Type what you are looking for below and let Google do the rest!
As any seasoned amateur astronomer can tell you, the hobby can become rather expensive, and going to university takes a lot of money too,
that is why I have put in a PayPal donation button to help me afford new/used equipment and software. Amateur astronomers can help the
professional community such as astroidal occultation timings, eclipse observations and some others I cannot think of off hand.
