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Stellafane
Anybody going to Stellafane? My sons and I will be there, and are looking
forward to another great weekend of amateur astronomy. It has been rain,rain,rain here in Vermont, but we are hopeful that we will have gotten the rain out of our system and that 8/1-8/3 will be wonderfully clear. Last year we didn't bring any optics, and spent our observing time looking through other's (mostly big) scopes. This was a useful reminder that big is often not better! This year, I am tempted to again roam the fields but spend more time observing with smaller and homemade scopes. The view through a great 6" is just fine by me. I wonder if John Dobson will be there? Some years ago, my older son pointed out Dobson sitting on a rock with a bunch of folks sitting around him, preaching his cosmology. My son said that it looked like a scene out of the New Testament. We still laugh about that, and it has been added to our Sellafane lore. For those of you who haven't gone, and who could go, I want you encourage you to make the effort. It is a memorable experience. Dennis |
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Stellafane
"Dennis Woos" wrote
Anybody going to Stellafane? Maybe I will next year. |
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Stellafane
"Howard Lester" wrote in message
... "Dennis Woos" wrote Anybody going to Stellafane? Maybe I will next year. Howard the short-timer's getting too short to carry on a long conversation... Heheheh!!! You go, Howie!!! -- Jan Owen To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address... Latitude: 33.6 Longitude: -112.3 http://community.webshots.com/user/janowen21 |
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Stellafane
On Jul 25, 7:03*am, "Dennis Woos" wrote:
Anybody going to Stellafane? My sons and I will be there, and are looking forward to another great weekend of amateur astronomy. (snip . . .) Stellafane has always been too far for me (unfortunately). I'm giving Wyoming's "Weekend Under the Stars" some consideration, but even that one is pushing it a bit for me. I'm sure you'll have a good time! If you get a chance to take and upload some photos I would be interested in chasing down the link. On a more personal plug: I finally purchased my first digital camera. Some day photos taken around my roll-off-roof observatory have been uploaded to my blog;-) Bill Greer To sketch is to see. http://cejour.blogspot.com http://www.rangeweb.net/~sketcher |
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Stellafane
Very, very nice!
Cathy Diamond Bell, AZ wrote in message ... On Jul 25, 7:03 am, "Dennis Woos" wrote: On a more personal plug: I finally purchased my first digital camera. Some day photos taken around my roll-off-roof observatory have been uploaded to my blog;-) Bill Greer To sketch is to see. http://cejour.blogspot.com http://www.rangeweb.net/~sketcher |
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Stellafane
"Dennis Woos" wrote in message ... Anybody going to Stellafane? Short answer: Yes I'm going, and planning to arrive on Thursday! I've been to Stellafane every year since 1995. The long range forecast looks poor, but I even went the year of the two hurricanes: Bonnie and Charley that hit about 24 hours apart. While observing is important Stellafane is really about amateur telescope making, and to a lesser extent the history of the ATM movement, so there is lots to do even if it rains all weekend. However, I've never seen a Convention that I didn't get to do *some* observing, but a few years it was limited to 5 minutes or so of sucker hole viewing of something like M-57 thru a small scope. As for scope size: I own 6, 8, 10, and 20 inch scopes, but often find myself observing with my 20x80 binoculars. I enjoy 'um all, but my preference is observing with 20-inch and larger scopes when possible. George N |
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Stellafane
Dennis Woos wrote:
Anybody going to Stellafane? My sons and I will be there, and are looking forward to another great weekend of amateur astronomy. It has been rain,rain,rain here in Vermont, but we are hopeful that we will have gotten the rain out of our system and that 8/1-8/3 will be wonderfully clear. Last year we didn't bring any optics, and spent our observing time looking through other's (mostly big) scopes. This was a useful reminder that big is often not better! This year, I am tempted to again roam the fields but spend more time observing with smaller and homemade scopes. The view through a great 6" is just fine by me. I wonder if John Dobson will be there? John will not be here this year. His east coast loop is later in the year. -- jeff |
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Stellafane
jeff wrote:
Dennis Woos wrote: Anybody going to Stellafane? My sons and I will be there, and are looking forward to another great weekend of amateur astronomy. It has been rain,rain,rain here in Vermont, but we are hopeful that we will have gotten the rain out of our system and that 8/1-8/3 will be wonderfully clear. Last year we didn't bring any optics, and spent our observing time looking through other's (mostly big) scopes. This was a useful reminder that big is often not better! This year, I am tempted to again roam the fields but spend more time observing with smaller and homemade scopes. The view through a great 6" is just fine by me. I wonder if John Dobson will be there? John will not be here this year. His east coast loop is later in the year. Is he still planning to travel this year? Last I'd heard he was recovering from a stroke. I'm guessing Stellafane dropped lower on his priority list when the Springfield ATMS invited him to attend a couple of years ago, but told him he wouldn't be allowed to speak. His theory of cosmology is controversial, but I can't think of anyone alive who has done more for the hobby of telescope making. |
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Stellafane
His theory of cosmology is controversial, but I can't think of anyone
alive who has done more for the hobby of telescope making. I would love to hear him talk more about telescope making and sidewalk astronomy, and less about cosmology, but this doesn't seem to be what he is interested in. I once heard him say that "Feynman almost got it right" - that takes a lot of chutzpah! Dennis |
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Stellafane
"Mark S. Holden" wrote
..... I wonder if John Dobson will be there? ........ Is he still planning to travel this year? Last I'd heard he was recovering from a stroke. I'm guessing Stellafane dropped lower on his priority list when the Springfield ATMS invited him to attend a couple of years ago, but told him he wouldn't be allowed to speak....... Yes he wasn't "on the program" for the past few years, but John is John, and last year he still managed to grab the mike for a while on Saturday night and gave a short 'speech' that started with the energy generated by dropping a marshmallow onto the surface of a neutron star and then inevitably ended up with his views on cosmology. He has not looked as healthy the past few years and I also heard the stroke story. Maybe for a surprise Dobson will show up at Stellafane with short black hair, an Astro-Physics refractor, and a "Big Bang is Best" t-shirt? Maybe I'll grab the mike this year and talk about the best beers to bring to a rainy star party! ......and now, off to pack for Stellafane 2008...... gotta remember both the beer and the bino-viewer!! George N |
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