Scattered Thoughts . . .

F or a few days there, it was looking like Waterbury was the place to be for the solar eclipse.  Tomorrow is the big day.   I set up a couple of telescopes this afternoon and we did a bit of solar observing with Lukey and Kenzie.  We also spent some time explaining things about the sun, moon and Earth using some visual props.  Today was a beautiful day.  It was clear and would have been a great day to observe an eclipse.   I just checked tomorrow's forecast to see if anything has changed...  well, now things aren't looking so great anymore for tomorrow after around noon.  We could still get lucky but we could also be socked in under overcast skies.  The truth is, I had forecast that this new weather system would hit us on eclipse day but none of the forecasts were indicating the same so I was hoping my forecast would be wrong.  Now...  things are iffy and the forecast is looking more like my own forecast that I had compiled about four days ago.   It was nice to be outside with

S ince it appears as though our weather will be great for the solar eclipse, I've been focused on getting all my astronomy and photography gear prepped for the big couple of minutes of total solar eclipse.   I also raked the part of the backyard where we will be setting up for the total eclipse.  Everything seemed to be going well and then we had well over a foot of heavy, wet snow dumped on us...  again.  The same thing happened less than a week earlier! So, two large amounts of snow followed immediately by temperatures in the 40s and 50s...  extra showers after getting soaked in sweat due to cleaning up the yard, driveway, paths and backyard, then extra loads of laundry to clean the sweat-soaked clothing, then Saturday came along when Sheila cleans the sheets and does all of her own laundry...  this resulted in a backed-up septic system.  Naturally, it is a weekend and we don't want to call to have the septic pumped out on the weekend so we're making-do with a very slow a

M y health has been improving this past week, finally, after a lot of physical therapy to build up my strength enough to walk around normally (mostly, anyway).  I'm still struggling with breathing problems due to the long-COVID thing but my long-COVID inflammation seems to finally be improving.  Since I had some strength and the sun was out, I thought it would be a good day to head outside with some astronomy gear.   The sun was penetrating through a lot of haze and high thin clouds today which is better than overcast skies so I decided I should take advantage of this unusually nice weather.  I could use all the practice I can get in preparation of the eclipse.  Unfortunately, I definitely overdid it today so I'm back to having difficulty walking and even standing.  This isn't great weather for solar observing nor imaging but I needed to take advantage of the fair weather with no threats of precipitation. I was thinking that I'd just take a couple of telescopes outside

L ukey and Kenzie were staying with us when we went on the cruise with the whole family so, a fter our cruise on Lake Champlain, we spent the evening in the backyard with Lukey and Kenzie.  Sheila and I haven't really had any time enjoying the backyard this summer due to the weather so it was nice to have suitable weather while Lukey and Kenzie were staying with us.  While Lukey started a fire in the firepit, Kenzie and Gee moved Kenzie's dollhouses to the deck so she could play... Since we had eaten well on the cruise and then stopped at The Longhorn for another meal on our way home, we weren't all that hungry for a full dinner so we opted for a weenie roast over the fire in the backyard.  I'm just about always up for a few hot dogs over a fire! After some hot dogs, the kids and Gee had a few S'mores too! As always, the sailboat got some attention... Playing soccer in the road...  not ideal footwear but she is a far better soccer player than she realizes... I'm

I did a little bit more research and testing of the custom spectroheliograph I am building yesterday.  This time I actually captured a single frame of data of one spectral line.  Honestly, I can't even remember which line this was...  Hydrogen alpha?  Sodium?  Continuum?  I honestly don't remember and I suppose it does not matter.  I just wanted to make a little more progress in this project. This image is just one still image of a spectral line captured without the use of a telescope of any sort.  I simply had the spectroheliograph pointed out our living room window.  My purpose was simply to see what a captured image would look like.  For collecting data to compile an actual image of the current sun, I would need to be connected to a telescope and then capture video...  from one end of the spectral line scanning toward and beyond the opposite end of the spectral line.  It would be a completely different process. One thing I did noticed in this image is that either my focus w

W e had a really nice birthday barbeque celebration in the backyard this past weekend.  Although it was a bit smoky from the Canadian wildfires, the weather was actually quite nice for a change! The company was good.  The food was good.  The drinks were cold.  There were plenty of games to play.  The rain stopped just long enough for us to set up the yard on Friday, have a great time together on Saturday and then clean up before it started raining again.   Looking at these photos, it seems to me that everyone had a good time! As always, the kids congregated on the sailboat most of the day.  At one point, four of the grandchildren were on the sailboat at the same time (photo above).  I have no idea how they all fit in that rather small cockpit!  In hindsight, when I saw that the four of them were on the sailboat together, I should have had Liza place 10 day old Sophia into Lukey or Kenzie's arms too so I could get a photo of all the grandchildren on the sailboat at the same time.