Hey Bill! I saw that shadow last night (Europa). I think only one. Maybe the other was a barge? - Paul

Wow, Bill, I would *love* for you to pick up some Canon IS binoculars!! I'll be sure to set up next to you at York River & the GAP :) Gary Seronik is a great resource.Tony Flanders is another S&T writ

NGC 2371-72 was probably the most exciting new object I found in the last month. Enjoyable because I was able to find it from my backyard and because it took some work to see some detail. I checked ou

Nick, I have an Orion XT8 and have the fan that was referenced. IMO, it is well worth it as it is one thing I use pretty much all year round to shorten my cool-down time. Also, I have read that it can

The fan itself is not heavy at all, and attaches permanently to the back of the mirror cell (there are pre-tapped holes on the bottom of your Dob, the Orion fan fits perfectly). There is a battery pac

Bill, I should have mentioned that my reluctance for using the hand-warmer technique stems from a combination of clutziness on my part (i.e., afraid of dropping, knocking secondary out of alignment, e

The way I think of it is that if the primary is fogging up, you have bigger problems in that the secondary is likely also dewing up as well as finders, eyepieces, binoculars, etc. Nights like those I

Anyone thinking of taking advantage of the Orion accessory sale? I am thinking of a white-light solar filter for my 8" Dob (mostly for the Venus transit). If anyone wants to consolidate purchases with

Nick, It was fun figuring this out in Pocket Sky Atlas last night. We'll definitely have to observe together some time. I was able to locate the article where I remember this grouping of stars being d

Ted, I think you accidentally considered New Moons in your calculations. Full Moons next winter are Dec 28, Jan 26, & Feb 25 (only three in the winter season). Blue moon would be Aug. 20 (summer FMs o

Wow, awesome, Nick! How dark were the skies there? For some reason, I can't see the sketch. Maybe you can email to me? Looks like clouds are going to plague us for next few days. Ugh.

At the January meeting there was some discussion about having a DIY Solar Filter class as a club event in anticipation of the June Venus Transit. Essentially an afternoon where folks could make their

Dale, the outer diam of my scope is 9.25" I was thinking of buying a 10" square, figuring that'd be enough to make a full aperture filter. Does that make sense? - Paul

Interesting question. I've read that O'Meara has attributed nebulosity to Sh2-310 (giant 5 deg wide nebula in general area). Burnham's says no nebulosity evident in general vicinity. I have read forum

Nick, What magnitude is Garradd nowadays?

Jim, I waited for awhile after the meeting but maybe I got the signal crossed or something. In any event, I sent your astro chair home with Bill, figuring you could get it much easier since he is clos

Enjoyed the meeting as well. It's great that folks are willing to pass on their knowledge. It is appreciated! Forgot to remind folks to check out Comet Garradd in the same FOV as M92 this morning (tha

Thanks, Nick for the heads up on this event. Got outside this morning at 5am. Initially I was horrified to see that my neighbor's flood light (illuminates his entire yard and a small part of mine) was

Well, just purchased Skytools3, and it's on its way. I had been thinking of buying for a long time, deferring numerous times for other astro purchases. It has probably given me a couple more months wi

I've got a follow-up question on the DIY solar filter that was discussed at the last meeting. I found this link explaining how to make a solar cell. Basically, you build up a cylinder that fits around