New lightbridge mod

New lightbridge mod
Originally uploaded by Matthew2000tx

re-did my Meade Lightbridge to make it better!re-did my Meade Lightbridge to make it better!

PBS Special- Phoenix Mars Mission: Ashes to Ice

I watched this documentary titled "Phoenix Mars Mission: Ashes to Ice", a PBS video. This video focuses on preparation of the Mars Phoenix Mission. It was amazing to see all the work and the human side of the mission. I wasn't aware that during the planning there were open houses to help get the public involved. This video focuses mostly on the test and build phase of Phoenix. This mission was the first time that NASA has allowed off site control of a mission such as this. This is because much of the mission once there will be run by scientists at the University of Arizona.

This video was educational, but I didn't find it as entertaining as the some of the NOVA documentaries I've seen on the Rover missions. At times, this video seemed slow and redundant.

The mission was successful and I would have liked to have seen more about the actual mission once on mars. This video does state that it is "to be continued".

I really feel that we are very fortunate to live in a day and age that hobbyist astronomers have access to videos such as this, and information on the internet. We truly are living in the golden age of information. Despite this information we have access to it was surprising to see in the video a member of the press asking if the lander had astronauts on board...


You can watch this video right here:

Watch more PBS Specials videos on AOL Video

Rick at SAAA Christmas Party

Rick at SAAA Christmas Party
Originally uploaded by Matthew2000tx

Rick and his little friend at the Christmas Party of the San Antonio Astronomical Association .Rick and his little friend at the Christmas Party of the San Antonio Astronomical Association .

Geminids Meteor Shower (Dec. 13 and 14)

December 13 and 14, 2009 you will be able to see the Geminid meteor shower at night under a almost New Moon sky. To prepare you for this I found this wonderful resource that has been posted numerous times on my blog:


For more information:
http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/

My Dream

Some day I hope to have something like this:

Night Sky Network Website Changes

New Changes for Nasa's Night Sky Network Page. You are a part of an astronomy club that is hooked up with the Night Sky Network then this is for you:

Buying a Telescope Series (Part 6 - One More Video)

Hope you have found this set educational.