Lunar Eclipse In San Antonio, TX

Well since I didn't have to work Today. I stayed up late last night. I heard there was going to be fog and clouds on the radio earlier on Monday as I did my holiday shopping. I went outside around 1 am and saw that clouds were starting to form on this bright full moon night. I watched some re-runs on DVR and decided I'll go out at 2am again. I went outside at 2am and the fog was worse and I couldn't see the moon, but I could see the effects of the eclipse. It was now darker than before I didn't have a glow of a full moon night. Even though I didn't see the moon during the eclipse felt it's effect first hand and in someways that made this the best Lunar Eclipse I've seen. (I've seen a few of them in my life time).

Esparza Elementary School – Tuesday, November 16:

The school event on Tuesday, November 16 was perfection. The weather is
clear and the viewing was steady. Despite a few misdirected lights in
the distance that area we sat up at was relatively dark for an urban
school. The children and the parents that viewed through my scope were
really well behaved and polite. Many had detailed questions about the
object I was showing with my telescope. I brought my scope named “Big
Red” and showed NGC457 the Owl Cluster a.k.a “E.T.” ; “Wall-E”
to the crowd of 175 or so. SAAA members present were: Don B., Bill B.,
Jay M., Danielle R., John and Amy E. and I. The school fed us Subway
Sandwiches.

My New Sunspotter Telescope

Astronomy in the Park

Feb 24, 2010:
Area park- This event was really a spur of the moment event. The sky was looking nice after a day of snow here in Texas. I text-ed Rick early in the morning to see if he wanted to head out to our dark sky site but with moon phase and the fact that I was working later than normal we decided to try observing from a park we scouted out a few weeks ago. I decided to sent out an invite to astronomers I knew that lived near the park. Before I knew it we had a small group!

It was fun!

The Adventure of being an SAAA member

One of the things I really like is that being a member of the San Antonio Astronomical Association is an adventure! We do star parties at all kinds of locations. During the "School season" I find myself observing in light polluted schools with some times lights only a few yards away. It is almost like a sport we have a team of astronomers at each school and the goal is to get 300 or more people young (some as young as 2-3 years) to look at each telescope in the hour and a half that we are there. That in it self is a rush.

Sometimes I find myself setting up in some of the darkest skys around at our Dark Sky site near Fredericksburg, Texas or at Garner State Park. These events are usually great when the seeing is good and if the seeing isn't up to par at least your their with some friends. Many times we are given free access to events and state parks that we do astronomy at.

A few occasions I've found myself driving across different parts of Texas with telescope in tow. I've been out to Ft. McKavett near San Angelo, Texas with the SAAA for some extremely dark sky on a cold night that dipped into the teens. Not bad to most astronomers up north but we didn't have a warming hut and we slept in tents when viewing became bad. This past summer my wife an I made the long car ride out to Alpine, Texas for vacation and on a number of nights we trekked out to McDonald Observatory to set up our 16" telescope for visitors at the visitor center. Thanks to our connections in the SAAA we were allowed private access to the 86" and H.E.T during the night and got to see actual research being done.

Last night was no exception, my wife and I volunteered to do some sidewalk astronomy at the Botanical Gardens (BGs) of San Antonio for their annual "Gardens By Moonlight" event. It was an adventure we parked in the serve entrance of the BGs and a few members had there equipment carted up the hills to the area we were to set up in by a golf cart. The cart never returned to set pick up my 10" dobsonian and gear. Do I carried it on my back up the hill and though the woods to the area we were to set up at. It really wasn't that bad... it added to the adventure. I took about 4 trips to get all my equipment there... and I needed the exercise! So there my wife and I were now at this location in the Botanical Gardens of San Antonio and we had enough time to walk around and see the Gardens before it got dark enough to do observing.

Later that evening I was showing Jupiter and it was spectacular. At first only 2 moons were visible then the night went on and the moon on the right split and there were now 3 visible. We could see a transit shadow of a moon and we also could see the bands of clouds with great detail. As the night went on those 2 moons that were once one moved further and further apart. And about 10 pm (I didn't have a watch so it is purely a guess) a moon appeared just off the edge of the left side of Jupiter. We continued to observe another hour or so and that moon steadily moved away from the Gas Giant.

Around 11:15 we started to tear down. Once again the cart didn't come quick enough for my taste so I found myself making trips with gear in hand. After everyone was loaded up we headed to Jim's a 24 hour diner here in San Antonio and enjoyed some dinner with fellow SAAA members. We parted ways about 1 am.

What an adventure!

To join the SAAA visit this link.

ISS and Shuttle

ISS Pass over McDonald Visitor Center, originally uploaded by MPR Photography (Matthew2000tx).

Earlier tonight I was at Woodlawn Lake in San Antonio. At about 9:12 PM CST. I watched the ISS and Shuttle appear out of the northwest horizon. It was really a nice pass. I've seen but the ISS and Shuttle together before but this time they were viewable at the same time.

I was at the park with my wife and sister-in-law. We were there to walk around and talk. I took my Jeep, which at this point of the summer has to top off. While walking I saw a man in a white shirt looking in my Jeep. At first I thought he was up to no good, but then I kept seeing him look up at the sky. So I asked if he was looking for the ISS. He stated yes and eventually we were standing there together looking up. And we weren't disappointed.

The Photo chosen for this entry was actually taken last week while visiting McDonald Observatory.

Today: Amazing Skies @ Witte Museum

Today (Sunday, July 19, 2009), Tina and I will be helping the San Antonio Astronomical Association out with the "Amazing Skies" event at the Witte Museum in San Antonio, TX. We will have our Meade 16" Lightbridge and our Meade 60mm Refractor (My First Scope) on display for the public to see inside the museum and outside fellow astronomers will be having Solar Telescopes set up for viewing. Tina will be helping with running one of the stations and I will be the photographer for the event and help relieve people when they need a break.


This is what the Witte Museum's website says:
"Experience outer space right in our back yard! This exciting event will feature NASA astronauts, hands-on activities, space exhibits and feature presentations for the whole family. Meet former NASA Astronaut Rick Hieb and John Blaha, shoot model rockets and ride the Rockit Rider in this informative and exciting atmosphere. Free with museum admission. For more information call 210.357.1910 or go to www.amazingskies.org"

Stand Up San Antonio!

San Antonio City staff is accepting comments until July 31 at: Andrew Spurgin [207-8229] Andrew.Spurgin@sanantonio.gov

Types of Astronomers

Lately I've been reflecting on myself the astronomer. As a dual career as photographer/educator I feel securely confident in my abilities and understanding of the subject matter. Astronomy...well at times I feel that I'm lacking.

Recently at a few star parties I've attended I did some basic observations of fellow astronomers. I was trying to see where I fit in. To me there seem to some various types of astronomers:

Type 1- Daddy/Mommy Astronomer
These are the moms and dads who are at star parties for their kids. They might have limited knowledge of astronomy but they are there to foster their kids learning.

Type 2 - Hungry Astronomer
This is the type of person that has had a taste of astronomy and recently decided to come back for additional helpings. This person may or may not have a telescope/binoculars (if they have one it is usually a department store off the shelf model that leaves much to be desired). Generally this type of astronomer comes to star parties to learn more and get advice as they start out in the hobby. This might the most common type, however, sadly, many of these fail to stick with astronomy.

Type 3 - Angler Astronomer
This is the type of astronomer that has some decent equipment they are still starting out in the hobby. The are standing in the water but they don't have the knowledge or equipment to go deep sea fishing yet, but that is the where they are headed.

Type 4 - Inspector Gadget Astronomer
This is the type of person, usually out with a GO-TO, fancy telescope, DSLR, etc... With them it is all about the dazzle of the equipment. They like buttons, little LED lights, things that use batteries. They probably have a smart phone with a data plan and are surfing the net as much as they are stargazing.

Type 5 - Serious Astronomer
This is the person who is "into" astronomy they are rather knowledgeable and have nice appropriate equipment for the type of observing they do: star-hopping, astrophotography, planetary, deep-sky. These people are generally resourceful with the equipment they use.

Type 6- Too Smart for their own good.
This is the most knowledgable person. They know the ins and outs of the universe and astronomy. These people are often so knowledgeable that they often talk over peoples heads and make references to movies and television shows that cause you to move you fingers in awkward positions.


I'm sure there are more types of people out at star parties but thought I'd mention these as sometimes when I'm out with my telescope I feel like I move between being one type of astronomer to another. Sometimes I feel like Type 6 when I'm talking with some people and at other times I feel like type 2.

So what type are you? (Post your comment and explore your inner astronomer.)

Hot Hot Hot... weather weather weather

My Telescope in HDR, originally uploaded by MPR Photography (Matthew2000tx).

If you don't know central Texas has been very dry this summer and San Antonio gets it's water from the Edwards Aquifer which has gotten very low this summer so we are at Stage 3 water restrictions. It has been unseasonably hot lately and today's high is expected to be 105 degrees; a temperature we usually don't see until the first part of August.

Why all the weather talk?? Well hot dry conditions are generally great for astronomy. I have gotten in some good viewing in lately because of the lack of humidity in the air allows the day time clouds to dissipate after sunset.

This week things have begun to moisten up a bit with rain the past two days. This is mostly due to the usual afternoon thunderstorms. Although we are in dire need of the rain, as is evident with the hue my lawn is showing, I have found it too humid in the evening to get the telescope out.

This week I have my parents in town from San Angelo, Texas and today is Wednesday which means it is the day of the week that the San Antonio Astronomical Association does it's weekly star party at McAllister Park near the San Antonio International airport. I would like to take my little Celestron First Scope out of a spin at the park and introduce my parents to the other astronomers that I talk about often. I see from the weather widget that the day's high is forecast as 105 and partly cloudy, so we might be able to make it to the park. All we need to hope for is that we don't have another one of those much needed rain clouds.... at least not today.

First Light with new telescope

So I was in Dallas/Ft.Worth area this week for family and photography business. I stopped in at Fry's Electronics on I-635 (I think..) and I bought a little telescope I've had my eye on for a while, the Celestron 76mm International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) first scope. Telescope is what I call a baby (maybe a premature baby) dobsonian telescope that retails for $49.99. I couldn't resist. The telescope is tiny pointed a zenith it sits about a foot and a half tall.

I'll post some more details about this little scope later. But this post is about the first light with this scope. Today (July 3, 09) after driving the 5 or so hours back to San Antonio I decided to get this thing out and take it for a tour of the light polluted sky of San Antonio.

The telescope comes with 2 eyepieces and I took the 20mm out for tonight. My object of choice for first light was the moon. I needed something easy to spot since the first scope doesn't have a finder (an optional accessory kit is $20 more). It wasn't too hard to align the mini telescope to the lunar surface. The first thing I noticed about this telescope was how wide the field of view was. I was able to take in the whole moon with a 9mm eyepeice. I got some decent views with the the supplied 20mm eyepiece but I got some slight blue ghosting at the edge of the moon. This isn't the worst view I've seen in a beginning telescope however when I put in my Orion ED-2 18mm eyepeice it really took the views up a notch. I was rather pleased with the views in this scope. I also got to take in Jupiter. I didn't see any details of the planet but I could see a line of moons.

I have some big plans for this little telescope.. more on that later.