OuterBlogs - Astronomy

Happy Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:47:00 +0000

For everyone tuning in today, Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for stopping by.

UFO!

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000

So Frank and I were in his back yard sometime in September and saw the NASA sounding rocket that launched from Wallops. We didn't know this was happening and hoped we actually witnessed an unexplainable UFO.

Someday...

And Another...

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:14:00 +0000

And another rainy day/night. It seems I always pick these days to write here. I was out at Williams Optics yesterday; I can't think of the other American made refractors. The other one is what I'd buy if I had the money to get one.

Not With These Clouds

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:20:00 +0000

I hope it clears up for Tuesday night, my astro buddy Frank asked me over for a visit and I may take my scope. Not if it looks like this then.

Astro Buddy

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:13:00 +0000

I'm enjoying a cigar with my astro buddy Frank this afternoon and dinner with his family but they're calling for clouds moving in so I don't think I'll drag the scope over tonight. Lousy clouds...

Orion Crew Vehicle

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:21:00 +0000

Check out the next moon vehicle to carry people up and back; looks a lot like the command module from Apollo days.

Shuttle's Down Safely

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 20:52:00 +0000

Looks like the space shuttle made it down for another safe landing in Floriday. Yay!

Storage?!?

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:34:00 +0000

Ever since I moved out of the house my scope's been in storage. However, it's right at the door of the space so I can grab it quick and get it over my buddy Frank's house at a moment's notice.

Stella Della Update

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 20:52:00 +0000

One of our trio is headed up to Onas to take his chances in the rain tonight. Hopefully he'll stay dry. An updated forecast says clearer skies tomorrow night so I'm going over to pick my buddy up to meet up with our other guy at the camp. We're leaving in the morning tomorrow and will spend the day at camp hoping it will be clear! Hopefully it won't be a complete wash.

Sixth Annual BMAA Stella Della XXII Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:02:00 +0000

This is year six for my astro-weekend crew and year XXII for the BMAA's Stella Della weekend. It takes place in the dark skies of Ottsville, PA and lasts from today through Sunday morning.

Once we missed a Friday night due to rain, and once Saturday night for bad weather. This is the first year we're missing both days due to crummy rain.

All this and Mark and I have new telescopes we're looking forward to using!

Old Scope is BACK!

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:57:00 +0000

This post is about 1.5 months late, but thanks to the generosity of my old boss from Universal Space Network, I have my first big 8-inch Meade MTS-SN8 telescope back. I bought this scope when I was about 15 and when I asked recently, my boss said I could have it back for free!

Check it out at http://meade.outerblogs.com

Shark Fin Soup

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 14:19:00 +0000

Illegal fisherman are taking 70,000,000 shark fins per year killing that many sharks. This is decimating the entire shark population in the oceans which account for an entire ecosystem. If you're eating anywhere in the world and you see shark fin soup on the menu, please don't eat at that restaurant. If we don't buy it, they won't make it!

Big 5.25-inch mod

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:16:00 +0000

I'm modding my beautiful 5.25-inch scope I built last year. I got the idea from the August Astronomy edition. I need to shed some serious weight to get the mount to work right so I'm going to make the scope tube out of big coffee cans. That's got to drop about 85% of the weight or so. Then the mount won't twist under the stress of the scope weight!

Will keep you posted with pics.

Binos are the sh%t!

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:00:00 +0000

If you want a quick and easy night out with the stars and don't want to lug your scope out, take a pair of binos, a chart (if you need it), and your favorite outside lounge chair. The wide field is great for bigger stuff which is what bino viewing is great for. Plus when you're done there isn't much clean up.

Laying Low

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:13:00 +0000

I took the weekend off for Thanksgiving and am back with some sort of throat cold. I'm going to lay low today and hopefully get a few new posts tomorrow.

Be well!

Happy Thanksgiving to All

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 15:19:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving to All - go spot a nebula after dinner!

Mount Material

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:50:00 +0000

During a visit to my folks' yesterday my Dad told me about an alternative material for my mount rather than PVC or steel. It's some kind of metal and I can't remember what he called it...

Business

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:07:00 +0000

I checked out the Small Business Administration's web site and discovered how much I don't know about starting a business. I need to take some online courses they offer for free to educate myself on what I need to know so I can reduce the risk of failure.

My favorite teacher at Holy Family University told us that the two biggest reasons small businesses fail are (1) insufficient funding and (2) lack of entrepreneurial skills.

If I at least gain the skills I need to succeed maybe I'll close the gap filled with risk.

Crazy Idear

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:06:00 +0000

What about opening a telescope shop?

Nothing to do with Astronomy

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:39:00 +0000

This has nothing to do with Astronomy but affects everyone who works in the U.S. I'm out looking for work and decided to look at elance.com which you bid on a job and the low bid wins the contract.

All of the bidders from India are bidding on jobs at $2.00, $3.00, and $5.00 an hour. It's no wonder we're all getting booted from jobs to overseas workers.

Stretched Out

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:35:00 +0000

While collimating the optics of my 5" Newtonian I am not able to view the brackets that hold the primary mirror in. Since the edge of the mirror is where your image is reflected from this is a problem.

Yesterday I decided to rig up a wooden frame behind the existing mirror mount in order to stretch out the optics and bring the focuser closer to the secondary mirror. Other than some minor grinding left, I was able to complete this and just tried out the new configuration.

So far so good. It seems like I'm looking through a slight haze but I think it may be that the hole to see the image off the secondary mirror is a bit off center making the wood of the focuser mount obstruct the view. I'm going to remove the focuser again and grind the hold to make it bigger to create an unobstructed view.

I need to clean the primary mirror again but I suspect I will purchase another since I scratched the surface when I tried to carelessly wipe it with a dry napkin. This put a nasty scratch in the surface and I'm not sure but think it's giving me a slightly washed out view.

Thomas M. Back - TMB Optical

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 13:52:00 +0000

I'm pretty late with this post since I just found out about it but the founder of TMB Optical died suddenly on September 13, 2007. I can't believe it since the guy was only 50.

His company made the best apochromatic refractor telescopes anyone in the U.S. had to offer. He ground his first 6-inch f/8 mirror while a teenager and never looked back.

His products range from 80mm f/6 priced at $2,190 all the way through 533mm f/13 (special order). The 533mm works out to be 20.984 inches in diameter with an optical tube length around 272.795 inches or 22.732 feet long.

Although they are not cheap telescopes, the quality is beyond words. They will continue to sell the products for the foreseeable future.

Observing with Binos

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 00:03:00 +0000

I think it's a sign - my bro-in-law and I were talking about observing with only binos and then the stardate.org program talked about observing without a telescope using just your eyes and some binos.

This last Stella-Dela Valley trip I was star hopping with my binos just sitting in my chair enjoying a glass of wine. It was really comfy not horsing around a big scope or standing for lengths of time.

If you want a quick and convenient way to observe, simply take your favorite lawn chair and beverage, lean back and enjoy a quiet night of star hunting with a lightweight set of binos.

Another great moon view

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:25:00 +0000

I need to start taking some digital photos of the moon and posting them here when I see a good view. This morning when I was taking Josh out for his morning squirt most of the moon was covered by the Earth's shadow but you could still see the entire moon. Too cool.

Thready Issue

noreply@blogger.com (OuterBlogs - Mattman) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:03:00 +0000

My PVC mount is grinding threads under the unbalanced weight of the 5 inch home built tube. I'm going to end up beating up the paint on the mount to get the threads loose and then I'll Vaseline them all up to combat the friction problem.