Hobby Thread - August 9, 2025 [Galileo Rex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. Good news! The Ace of Spades Wheel of HobbiesTM) is back in service. We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin and it landed on telescopes and astronomy photography.

I have faith that you can either find something in the content that resonates or contribute your own hobbying interests.

You might be tempted to say "I have no hobbies or interests." Bah. Dig around in the content and soak in the comments. Be curious. Glad you're here.

[Top photo: Interstellar by polynikes (16 x 20)]

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What are you hobbying?

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. All (legal) hobbying is welcome. However, politics, current events and religious debates can live in threads elsewhere. Pants are optional. Puns are welcome and encouraged.

TRex has been detailed elsewhere for a super secret special assignment, so the hobbying Horde is its own tonight. Thanks to scampydog for getting this posted. Play nice. Don't be a troll and do not feed the trolls.

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TRex does not own a telescope and has only made modest efforts at photographing the night sky. The night sky, however, has always held interest. As a youngster, I remember visiting the Planetarium and watching the projections on the ceiling. It looked mysterious but was abstract. I also couldn't wrap my small dino-brain around things like billions and trillions of stars and galaxies. Still can't. Looking through a telescope and seeing the rings of Saturn somehow was completely different. Likewise for seeing the details and shadows of craters on the moon.

What is really out there? I mean, other than aliens.

Perhaps at some point, my hobbying will involve a real telescope and a real effort at taking pictures of the night sky and its celestial residents. For now, we take inspiration from polynikes on last week's Hobby Thread:

Looking to the Horde to help polynikes spend his money. Also looking to the Horde in general to help with the hobbying theme this week. Are you wise in the ways of telescopes? Are you wise in the ways of where to go for truly dark skies? Are you wise in the ways of pointing cameras to the night skies? Does your hobbying otherwise involve the stars and planets in some way?

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As said above, TRex is not wise in the ways of telescope acquisition. These links seems reasonable and lower on the clickbait scale, but think of them as samples.

The 13 Best Telescopes: 300+ Owned, Tested and Compared

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If you're going to get serious, you need a backyard observatory. There are many backyard observatory videos on the interweb, so this is more of a sample than an endorsement:

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How to photograph the Milky Way:

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Saturn!

How about further away... Andromeda Galaxy! (Fwiw, I thought this video was well done.)

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NASA's Lunar Photography Guide has a lot of helpful tips for taking photos of the moon.

Destin has a crazy story about shooting photos of an eclipse:

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Not sure why, but I've always found lunar reflectors fascinating.

There are five reflecting panels on the Moon. Two were delivered by Apollo 11 and 14 crews in 1969 and 1971, respectively. They are each made of 100 mirrors that scientists call "corner cubes," as they are corners of a glass cube; the benefit of these mirrors is that they can reflect light back to any direction it comes from. Another panel with 300 corner cubes was dropped off by Apollo 15 astronauts in 1971. Soviet robotic rovers called Lunokhod 1 and 2, which landed in 1970 and 1973, carry two additional reflectors, with 14 mirrors each. Collectively, these reflectors comprise the last working science experiment from the Apollo era.

Scientists have been using reflectors on the Moon since the Apollo era to learn more about our nearest neighbor. It's a fairly straightforward experiment: Aim a beam of light at the reflector and clock the amount of time it takes for the light to come back. Decades of making this one measurement has led to major discoveries.
One of the biggest revelations is that the Earth and Moon are slowly drifting apart at the rate that fingernails grow, or 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) per year. This widening gap is the result of gravitational interactions between the two bodies.

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What is your light pollution situation? Are you familiar with the Bortle scale?

What is the Borlte scale?

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Apparently this is a popular book for finding things in the night sky:

Any other recommendations?

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I know what you're thinking. "I'm into all of this, but it would be great if there was some kind of local gathering of like-minded enthusiasts that I could learn from and share stories with..." How about a local astronomy club?

Here you go: ASTRONOMY CLUB DIRECTORY

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If you're in the Columbia, South Carolina neighborhood, stop by the South Carolina State Museum and check out the world-class collection of antique telescopes and astronomical instruments. The telescopes and instruments total more than 200 objects dating back to 1730. Of the more than 60 telescopes in the group, 23 are fine examples of 19th and early 20th century American-made telescopes.

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If we didn't have a polynikes painting, this photo would have been at the top of this post.

When 42-year-old Valerio Minato woke up on December 15, 2023, he said he felt "agitated." For six years he had been trying to capture a photo showing the perfect alignment of the Monviso, a mountain in the Alps in Northern Italy, the Basilica of Superga, near Turin, and the moon. Having very few opportunities throughout the year where these three elements line up, Minato had just a small chance of getting the perfect shot.
Minato's research, patience, and dedication throughout the years paid off. He has been photographing Turin and its fascinating skyline and monuments for 12 years now and started trying to get this shot in 2017.
"I started going around this area of hills northeast of Turin where you could see Monviso and Superga [a hill that hosts the Basilica of the same name on top]. After finding the three or four points where these two are perfectly aligned, I started to evaluate - let's say complicate my life - to try and take a very different picture from the ones I had already shot," Minato said, smiling.
Other than researching the perfect locations, Minato had to study carefully the lunar phases that would allow for this alignment. He explained there were only around two days a year when he could attempt the photo and in some years the alignment didn't occur at all.

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This is the opposite of amateur astronomy, but seems like it needs to be in here somewhere.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date.

Webb's image is approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm's length, a tiny sliver of the vast universe. The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying more distant galaxies, including some seen when the universe was less than a billion years old. This deep field, taken by Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is a composite made from images at different wavelengths, totaling 12.5 hours - achieving depths at infrared wavelengths beyond the Hubble Space Telescope's deepest fields, which took weeks.
This image shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago, with many more galaxies in front of and behind the cluster.
Light from these galaxies took billions of years to reach us. We are looking back in time to within a billion years after the big bang when viewing the youngest galaxies in this field. The light was stretched by the expansion of the universe to infrared wavelengths that Webb was designed to observe.

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Speaking of NASA and this topic, seems like we should acknowledge the passing of Jim Lovell:

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Did you know the Vatican has a telescope in Arizona? Me neither.

The Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) is an astronomical research complex operated by the Vatican Observatory Research Group (VORG) in collaboration with the University of Arizona.

The telescope is located in southeastern Arizona (roughly a three hour drive north east of Tuscon) where sky conditions are among the best in the world for astronomical observations. It was dedicated in 1987 and opened in 1993.

Photo credits: The Vatican Observatory.

Apparently private donations and a foundation provide the bulk of the funding. I'm guessing they'd say they're doing serious science stuff. They're probably looking for aliens just like everyone else in the southwest with an observatory or satellite dishes pointed at the sky.

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Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We did a fishing theme. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

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Notable comments from last week:

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Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

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Would TRex include a mystery click behind the top photo in a Hobby Thread? Maybe... If you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different theme next time. What are you hobbying? We love showing off Horde hobbying. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Polynikes can probably do some astronomy paintings.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 09, 2025 05:30 PM (0eaVi)

2 Welcome Hobbiests
Actually bought myself a plastic plane model, A-10 in 1/72 scale. Probably won't get to it for awhile.
Was hoping for a bigger but thought small steps first

Posted by: Skip at August 09, 2025 05:32 PM (+qU29)

3 The Universe is big. Really big.

Posted by: Douglas Adams at August 09, 2025 05:33 PM (/HI9S)

4 RIP Mr Lovell.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 09, 2025 05:33 PM (zZu0s)

5 At my first TXMOME, I had an opportunity to look at the night sky through night-vision goggles.

It was incredible. The sky **EXPLODED** with stars that you cannot see otherwise. You'd think we were in the heart of a stellar cluster near the center of the galaxy.

The Milky Way was a bright ribbon in the sky.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 09, 2025 05:35 PM (IBQGV)

6 The Universe is big. Really big.
Posted by: Douglas Adams at August 09, 2025 05:33 PM (/HI9S)

It'd have to be to hold Lizzo, Stacey Abrams, and Whoopi.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 09, 2025 05:35 PM (0eaVi)

7 As Jim Lovell said during a visit to San Antonio College in 1994, future generations are now going to think that Jim Lovell looks like Tom Hanks, thank to the then under production movie Apollo 13.

RIP Jim Lovell

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 09, 2025 05:38 PM (vm8sq)

8 The Universe is big. Really big.
Posted by: Douglas Adams at August 09, 2025 05:33 PM

No worries. I have my towel.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 09, 2025 05:39 PM (o+2eC)

9 Ok, now that's done chocked full o' stars!

Posted by: An incredulous Dave Bowman at August 09, 2025 05:39 PM (cduTK)

10 14.3 billion light years big. That's BIG.

Posted by: Douglas Adams at August 09, 2025 05:40 PM (/HI9S)

11 I used to do a lot of night photography. Here's a Moon I shot a few years ago.

https://tinyurl.com/488hsvr7

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 09, 2025 05:41 PM (CHHv1)

12 Another good week for DX got me a 15m confirmed contact with SV5BYP on the island of Rhodes in the bunch of islands called Dodecanese, which is a new country for me, number 167. I searched my FT8 ALL.TXT file to count the number of times I've tried to work that guy since 2021: 23(!) unsuccessful attempts, until succeeding this week. My most distant contact this week was YE9BJM in Bali, 9500 miles away, on 20m.

This week is the peak of the Perseids shower, and I'll be listening and auto-logging MSK144 meteor scatter traffic on 6m. hamsci.org is encouraging all hams to participate on 6m and 10m, either making QSOs, or just listening and reporting to PSKReporter. If you already have and use WSJT-X software, then you're all set to easily try it. The peak is Mon-Tue.

Posted by: gp at August 09, 2025 05:41 PM (0I+GC)

13 I love the night sky. The best places I ever saw were on Grand Mesa in Colorado, the Bighorn mountains in Wyoming, Yellowstone, and the Yukon.

Boise seems to have some light pollution, but when we drove to SLC last weekend I saw Venus, big, bold and brash before sunrise.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo at August 09, 2025 05:42 PM (0aYVJ)

14 This will be my favorite hobby post. So much to take in for my next hobby adventure. There is also a planetarium and observatory very close to me in Huntsville that I plan on visiting soon.

I’m also addicted to ‘universe’ numbers.

It’s mind boggling that even if we could travel 1/10 the speed of light ( 67 million MPH) it would take us over 40 years to reach the closest star.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 05:44 PM (VofaG)

15 Here's a universe conundrum.

If spacetime was created at the Big Bang, then what exists outside of the universe has no space and no time.

Meaning that the Universe - beginning, middle and end -- has existed in a timeless stasis. I'd say "forever" but forever has no meaning where time doesn't exist.

Meaning that everything that has happened and will happen in the Universe is already written, and cannot be changed.

Meaning that the Calvinists may have been onto something.

CHANGE MY MIND

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at August 09, 2025 05:45 PM (/HI9S)

16 Heck, even in Cody WY I could walk home from work in the evening and see some wonderful night skies.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo at August 09, 2025 05:46 PM (0aYVJ)

17 Well! I am flattered, as I'm sure Ben Had is, to be quoted from last week. Did anybody recognize the references? The first is from Steinbeck's Cannery Row, quoted approximately by John Huston in his narration for the 1982 film. The other is from Big & Rich's first major hit, "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)," from 2004.

Hard to find a mention of frog-gigging in pop culture nowadays.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2025 05:46 PM (omVj0)

18 used to do a lot of night photography. Here's a Moon I shot a few years ago.

https://tinyurl.com/488hsvr7
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 09, 2025 05:41 PM (CHHv1)

Wow you did that? That’s NASA quality.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 05:46 PM (VofaG)

19 OMG, space stuff! My very, very favorite subject in the whole wide world! Since Apollo 11 and the original Star Trek, science-fiction and astronomy, I love it all! Wish I'd known this thread was coming up, I would've sent in the painting I did of the 2024 total solar eclipse, which we trekked to Texas to see. Love Polyknikes' "Intersellar"!

Currently winding up a painting of Crater Lake, based on an insipid photo taken there when we visited it back in June and which I've subsequently jazzed up. As there are pine trees framing the view, I'm having a hard time with it because I simply cannot seem to get the hang of painting realistic trees. The cure for that is painting more trees but I'm just disgusted with the entire concept. I'll be glad when it's all over and I can return to painting something I enjoy working on: another portrait.

When paintings don't go well, I console myself with my best friend's observation: "You know, that can't all be masterpieces."

Posted by: tankascribe at August 09, 2025 05:48 PM (NtoJk)

20 GP - the book you listed is one of the textbooks I go back to read all the time, along with Advanced Nutrition and the Human Metabolism, as well as Sports and Exercise Nutrition and Williams' Nutrition for Health, Fitness and Sport.

Posted by: Piper at August 09, 2025 05:48 PM (aT5K/)

21 Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at August 09, 2025 05:45 PM (/HI9S)

We are currently in a black hole.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 05:48 PM (VofaG)

22 A interview the Apollo 13 guys did on The Tonight Show (1970) came up on my suggested. Damn, those colors. But in a few short years everything would be shaggy.

What is also interesting is body language. It is a lot different than today.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 09, 2025 05:48 PM (zZu0s)

23 Actually watched a YouTube video on Uranus this morning, it's odd it spins on its side looking like it's rolling along outside path

Posted by: Skip at August 09, 2025 05:49 PM (+qU29)

24 "Why are you so gay for space?"
( -- Bobby Hill)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2025 05:49 PM (omVj0)

25 Oops -- that ought to be:

"You know, they can't all be masterpieces."

Stupid fingers... I'm messed up from working on a translation of a book on ancient Russian costume and using a virtual Cyrillic keyboard!

Posted by: tankascribe at August 09, 2025 05:50 PM (NtoJk)

26 I think I may try to paint. It’s going to be hot garbage, but I am going to try!

Posted by: Piper at August 09, 2025 05:51 PM (aT5K/)

27 The night sky that I get here is always something. Copper Breaks State Park (TX), about 150 miles distant, is a well regarded dark sky location. But I am not terribly close to major cities either so I get spectacular views.

But do not get me started on the blinking red lights courtesy of the ever increasing numbers of windmills.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 09, 2025 05:52 PM (vm8sq)

28 I think I may try to paint. It’s going to be hot garbage, but I am going to try!

Posted by: Piper at August 09, 2025 05:51 PM (aT5K/)

Go for it, Piper!

Posted by: tankascribe at August 09, 2025 05:52 PM (NtoJk)

29 Moon, taken by me.

https://ibb.co/S4qmqfcK

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 09, 2025 05:52 PM (Q4IgG)

30 20 OK, good! Thanks! I also obtained "Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism" by Gropper et al, so I guess we're on the exact same wavelength.

Posted by: gp at August 09, 2025 05:52 PM (0I+GC)

31 I think I may try to paint. It’s going to be hot garbage, but I am going to try!
Posted by: Piper at August 09, 2025 05:51 PM (aT5K/)
----
Hot garbage can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions.

So you have that to look forward to.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 09, 2025 05:52 PM (IBQGV)

32 Actually watched a YouTube video on Uranus this morning, it's odd it spins on its side looking like it's rolling along outside path
Posted by: Skip at August 09, 2025

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Right, something close to a 90-degree axial tilt, as compared to the Earth's 23.4.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2025 05:53 PM (omVj0)

33 Hot garbage can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions.

So you have that to look forward to.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 09, 2025 05:52 PM (IBQGV)

That's so true, and so disgusting...

Posted by: tankascribe at August 09, 2025 05:53 PM (NtoJk)

34 29 That one might induce lunacy

Posted by: gp at August 09, 2025 05:54 PM (0I+GC)

35 When I took as astronomy class in college, we had the opportunity to go to "Visitor's Night" at our local 16-in telescope on campus.

Although it's located near a busy street (lots of light pollution), it was still neat to look at the Moon, Mars, and Saturn.

The shadows cast by the mountains on the Moon are razor sharp.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 09, 2025 05:54 PM (IBQGV)

36 Posted by: tankascribe at August 09, 2025 05:48 PM (NtoJ

I watched a few time lapsed videos of Michael James Smith doing landscapes and was able to figure out for the most part how to do semi realistic trees by watching him.

The guy is incredible to watch though I am not a fan of his work because I could just hang his reference photograph. That’s how photo realistic the guy can paint. Impressive but it’s got no emotion in it.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 05:56 PM (VofaG)

37 1999: went to Germany for a solar eclipse (rained out)
2017: The exact same one occurred in WY (thank you, Saros cycles). This I saw no problems. Not a cloud in the sky.
2024: saw the solar eclipse in Fredericksburg, TX for about 5-10 seconds or so. Damn clouds. Though it was weird. The clouds took out the corona view but you could see the eclipse, even some prominences coming off the sun.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 09, 2025 05:57 PM (vm8sq)

38 I visited Yerkes Observatory. They had the library roped off. I would pay $50 to browse it for just an hour. Very cool visit, not far from Chicago.

Posted by: gp at August 09, 2025 05:57 PM (0I+GC)

39 Actually watched a YouTube video on Uranus this morning, it's odd it spins on its side looking like it's rolling along outside path
Posted by: Skip at August 09, 2025

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Right, something close to a 90-degree axial tilt, as compared to the Earth's 23.4.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2025 05:53 PM (omVj0)
---
Uranus has some bizarre seasons because of its axial tilt:

https://tinyurl.com/yc6ezcdf

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 09, 2025 05:57 PM (IBQGV)

40 And reading about Venus, I find something I did not know, that it has retrograde rotation around its axis: clockwise instead of counter-clockwise like Earth and the other planets. If you could see the Sun there, it would rise in the west and set in the east.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2025 05:57 PM (omVj0)

41 My hobby is video games. At least, among my hobbies is video games. Mafia: The Old Country released yesterday. I've played for several hours. I quite liked it or, it is the kind of game I like, bright, beautiful, semi open world, interesting story, fairly realistic. I'm a sucker for Mediterranean architecture and landscapes and this is set in 1903 in Sicily. (OK, OK, technically Sicily isn't in the Mediterranean.)

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Something Smells Funny In Here at August 09, 2025 05:58 PM (L/fGl)

42 Wow you did that? That’s NASA quality.

Thanks, that was done with my Nikon D70, with this huge 750mm no name zoom lens. I still have both.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 09, 2025 05:59 PM (CHHv1)

43 @29 - very nice!

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 09, 2025 06:00 PM (CHHv1)

44 We were able to observe the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn a couple years ago. I was able to get a couple of photos of this, but without a really stable platform they were a tad blurry.

The photos of the auroras earlier in the year we took with cell phone cameras where, surprisingly rather good.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 09, 2025 06:00 PM (Q4IgG)

45 I think I may try to paint. It’s going to be hot garbage, but I am going to try!

Posted by: Piper at August 09, 2025 05:51 PM (aT5K/)

Painting scares me. I do a lot of work with pencils, pens, charcoal, colored pencils and pastels. I've tried watercolor and acrylics, but I just can't figure it out. so, for me - drawing.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo at August 09, 2025 06:00 PM (0aYVJ)

46 I’m so looking forward to getting a telescope.

My 2nd favorite TV series behind Daryl’s House is How the Universe Works.

I think of all the STEM professions I think astrophysicist is the one women are most drawn to if that TV series is any indication. They’re very good at it too.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 06:01 PM (VofaG)

47 Hot garbage can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions.

-
How does one get into the house garbage business?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Something Smells Funny In Here at August 09, 2025 06:01 PM (L/fGl)

48 Uranus has some bizarre seasons because of its axial tilt:

https://tinyurl.com/yc6ezcdf
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 09, 2025

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There is a Poul Anderson SF novel called War of the Wing-Men which takes place on an Earthlike world with a tilt like that. Nicholas van Rijn the interstellar trader and two other Terrans are stranded there, and they can't eat the local food; and the seasons affect everything. So van Rijn takes a hand in a local war so that the winners can bring the humans to rescue before they starve.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2025 06:01 PM (omVj0)

49 I've only seen a clear night sky when I was younger and camping out from the city. It has been so long since I've even seen the milkyway.

Posted by: banana Dread Pirate Summer Long Balls Dream at August 09, 2025 06:02 PM (cduTK)

50 An exotic Italian carmaker has a color called ‘Blu Uranus.’ Not joking. It’s actually a great color. They charge $14k for it. But nobody at the company thought that maybe calling a color “blew your anus’ was a bad idea? The USA is probably their biggest market.

Posted by: Elric the Bladiest Blade at August 09, 2025 06:02 PM (aeiyZ)

51 >>> An exotic Italian carmaker has a color called ‘Blu Uranus.’ Not joking. It’s actually a great color. They charge $14k for it. But nobody at the company thought that maybe calling a color “blew your anus’ was a bad idea? The USA is probably their biggest market.
Posted by: Elric the Bladiest Blade at August 09, 2025 06:02 PM (aeiyZ)

My two favorite car colors are blue or orange.

Posted by: banana Dread Pirate Summer Long Balls Dream at August 09, 2025 06:03 PM (cduTK)

52 With Rhodes on my mind, I looked up the Colossus of Rhodes. Seems it fell down in an earthquake after 60 years. The remains were a popular tourist site until 600AD. Today, nobody can find it. Or so sez WIkipedia.

The Dodecanese island group also includes Patmos, where John was exiled. 'Dodeca' means 'twelve,' which makes total sense considering there are 159 islands in the whole shebang.

Posted by: gp at August 09, 2025 06:04 PM (0I+GC)

53 They are each made of 100 mirrors that scientists call "corner cubes,"

My old boss at Ames made some of those. The precision is astounding.

Posted by: t-bird at August 09, 2025 06:04 PM (1I7ss)

54 Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Something Smells Funny In Here at August 09, 2025 05:58 PM (L/fGl)

I’m afraid I’d become a couch potato more than I am if I got into gaming. You can get lost in that world. Something I could easily do with how good the games are today. I can’t imagine how it will be in 10 or 15 years . I assume a real life holographic deck.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 06:06 PM (VofaG)

55 piper one thing I learned from my grandmother who wasn't a good piano player, not she got notes wrong much but was sloooooooow. Anyway she loved to play and did it daily her whole life almost.
If you like doing something have at it.

Posted by: Skip at August 09, 2025 06:06 PM (+qU29)

56 I think I may try to paint. It’s going to be hot garbage, but I am going to try!
Posted by: Piper at August 09, 2025 05:51 PM (aT5K/)

It's not as hard as you think. Wet on wet is easiest to get started, then you can graduate to more traditional or go watercolor, which is apparently harder to do.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 09, 2025 06:07 PM (0eaVi)

57 A bit down the coast in southern RI a non-profit operates a pretty nice observatory. It's in a pretty dark area with the ocean next to it and the best part is it is open to the public every Friday night free of charge.

I'm a big fan of being on the water at night, the further from land the better. If you are out of sight of land on a clear night you are surrounded by stars.

My God, it's full of stars.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 09, 2025 06:09 PM (viF8m)

58 I’m currently doing a painting of the Vegas Strip at night. I decided to do it in acrylic since you can get bold almost fluorescent colors. Acrylic is actually harder to paint with than oil in my opinion. Easier clean up though.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 06:10 PM (VofaG)

59 Minato's skyscape of the Moon framing the mountain is great. And I much prefer it to the technically wonderful, but dime a dozen shots of deep sky objects people spend so much time, effort, and money producing. Get a telescope you can look through and don't--at least until you decide you really want to--waste your time with astrophotography!

Posted by: Jim at August 09, 2025 06:12 PM (DcE5z)

60 Uranus has some bizarre seasons because of its axial tilt:

https://tinyurl.com/yc6ezcdf
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 09, 2025 05:57 PM (IBQGV)

It's the Klingons, Perfessor.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at August 09, 2025 06:12 PM (0eaVi)

61 43 @29 - very nice!
Posted by: BeckoningChasm
---------
Nikon COOLPIX P900
357mm
f/6.5
1/250
ISO 400
no flash

Hand held

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 09, 2025 06:12 PM (Q4IgG)

62 Y’all are so encouraging. It’s awesome. I will discount my hot garbage for the horde in appreciation.

Posted by: Piper at August 09, 2025 06:13 PM (pZEOD)

63 58 I’m currently doing a painting of the Vegas Strip at night. I decided to do it in acrylic since you can get bold almost fluorescent colors. Acrylic is actually harder to paint with than oil in my opinion. Easier clean up though.
Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 06:10 PM (VofaG)
——

‘Make by ass look good!”

— Xena Muffins, Vegas prostitute

Posted by: Elric the Bladiest Blade at August 09, 2025 06:13 PM (aeiyZ)

64 Just did some pork chops and rice in my instant pot.

Painting board games, finished my Dark Souls figures that I had been doing since March.

I have a box of Heroquest with over a hundred done and a hundred to go.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at August 09, 2025 06:15 PM (lhenN)

65 One of the biggest revelations is that the Earth and Moon are slowly drifting apart at the rate that fingernails grow, or 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) per year. This widening gap is the result of gravitational interactions between the two bodies.……………

You might think that would effect the earth’s gravitational forces over time which of course be mistaken by the Left as man made climate effects.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 06:16 PM (VofaG)

66 Look at the Cloudy Nights Forum for ideas.

Posted by: Jim at August 09, 2025 06:16 PM (DcE5z)

67 15 Here's a universe conundrum.

If spacetime was created at the Big Bang, then what exists outside of the universe has no space and no time.

Meaning that the Universe - beginning, middle and end -- has existed in a timeless stasis. I'd say "forever" but forever has no meaning where time doesn't exist.

Meaning that everything that has happened and will happen in the Universe is already written, and cannot be changed.

Meaning that the Calvinists may have been onto something.

CHANGE MY MIND
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at August 09, 2025 05:45 PM (/HI9S)
______
You're conflating different theories. Predestination concerns our spiritual destination. What you describe is a form of determinism or fatalism. It's related to Aristotle's "sea battle", and also to Parmenides's notion that change was an illusion. (There are really 4 different types of determinism, but enough for now.)

Posted by: Eeyore at August 09, 2025 06:17 PM (od0dV)

68 Posted by: BourbonChicken at August 09, 2025 06:15 PM (lhenN)

That would be one of my favorite meals. I’m having beef tips and rice tonight. Would prefer the pork chops.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 06:17 PM (VofaG)

69 26 ... "I think I may try to paint. It’s going to be hot garbage, but I am going to try!"

Piper,
I really hope you do. My attempts at painting haven't got to the 'hot garbage level but it was fun trying. BTW, the brush techniques taught by the Bob Ross course do work.

Posted by: JTB at August 09, 2025 06:18 PM (yTvNw)

70 Make by ass look good!”

— Xena Muffins, Vegas prostitute
Posted by: Elric the Bladiest Blade at August 09, 2025 06:13 PM (aeiyZ)

I’ve read business is down in Vegas across the board. Haven’t been there in over a decade.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 06:19 PM (VofaG)

71 Posted by: Eeyore at August 09, 2025 06:17 PM (od0dV)

My theory on predestination /free will is that life is like the pachinko machine where God can intervene if he wants but eventually we all end up where we are going to end up. Though the path is random .

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 06:24 PM (VofaG)

72 I need to hit the McDonald Observatory in west TX.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 09, 2025 06:24 PM (vm8sq)

73 My attempts to photograph the night sky weren't very good. We do have a good telescope, an 8 inch dobsonian. Haven't used it in a while. Now with the cataract surgery and most of the astigmatism corrected, I should get it out again.

Posted by: JTB at August 09, 2025 06:26 PM (yTvNw)

74 And one might not know they have a natural talent at a task until they try it

Posted by: Skip at August 09, 2025 06:26 PM (+qU29)

75 Even if you don't have a telescope, a pair of 10x50 binoculars can make a huge difference in viewing the night sky. There are braces that let you attach them to a tripod and adapters to connect them to a camera body.

Posted by: JTB at August 09, 2025 06:29 PM (yTvNw)

76 A cell phone photo from May 2024 and the visible auroras. North Central KY.

https://ibb.co/8DPNdwMW

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 09, 2025 06:30 PM (Q4IgG)

77 I used to do a lot of night photography. Here's a Moon I shot a few years ago.

https://tinyurl.com/488hsvr7
Posted by: BeckoningChasm
---
wow! Love this.

Posted by: screaming in digital at August 09, 2025 06:30 PM (7HoOO)

78 I am not at all wise in the way of telescopes. Last month while watching a series on navigating the night sky I decided to finally look seriously at getting a telescope.

I happened to see a really good deal on an open box Sky Watchwr 250 at BH Photo. That’s a 10-inch reflector. Looks cool. Bought it. It shows up at my house and this thing is huge. Probably should have got an 8 inch or 6 inch. But it does get great views of the moon. And it came with what looks like a very cheap phone holder to hold the phone next to the eyepiece. Got some nice photos of the moon with it.

I’m going to try to bring it to the Texas MoMe. The sky is darker there.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 09, 2025 06:32 PM (EXyHK)

79 Well, since we've had mention of some theological subjects I hope it's o.k to mention that Buzz Aldrin took communion on the moon. Article from "Guideposts" magazine:

https://tinyurl.com/3k9nnddc

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 09, 2025 06:33 PM (2GCMq)

80 Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 09, 2025 06:32 PM (EXyHK)

Yeah I’m looking at the 8inch . I’m more into observing than photography.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 06:34 PM (VofaG)

81 My best dish is creamy beef stroganoff with egg noodles. The first time I made it was the best meal of my entire life.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at August 09, 2025 06:34 PM (lhenN)

82 Yeah I’m looking at the 8inch . I’m more into observing than photography.

Smaller is probably also a lot easier to transport to areas that are less light polluted than where I am.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 09, 2025 06:37 PM (EXyHK)

83 1 My best dish is creamy beef stroganoff with egg noodles. The first time I made it was the best meal of my entire life.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at August 09, 2025 06:34 PM (lhenN)

I love beef stroganoff so much so that it’s one of my main freeze dried prepper food. Unfortunately last time I made it from scratch it was Hamburger Helper😀. I need a wife.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 06:38 PM (VofaG)

84 There is a planetarium in Corsicana and also the Pearce Museum.

Many will remember seeing the Starlink satellites being released during one of the MoMes

Posted by: Ben Had at August 09, 2025 06:39 PM (HFcKg)

85 "Meaning that everything that has happened and will happen in the Universe is already written, and cannot be changed.
Meaning that the Calvinists may have been onto something.
CHANGE MY MIND
Posted by: Cicero"

Why not include everything that CAN happen?

Posted by: fd at August 09, 2025 06:39 PM (vFG9F)

86 I used to have a small reflector when I was a teenager, I thought about getting a new telescope but TBH, the images available from the professional scopes are so good and so easily available that I can’t see myself using a small scope that much.

I load up images (false color of course) on my 75 inch 4k TV and it blows my mind. Literally tens of thousands of stars, butterfly nebula, dust clouds. It’s beautiful and better than anything I could possibly see through a small telescope.

Posted by: MAGA_Ken at August 09, 2025 06:40 PM (Vh9CX)

87 If the universe didn't exist, why would that be a problem?

Posted by: Accomack at August 09, 2025 06:40 PM (sSkke)

88 The Dodecanese island group also includes Patmos, where John was exiled. 'Dodeca' means 'twelve,' which makes total sense considering there are 159 islands in the whole shebang.
Posted by: gp at August 09, 2025 06:04 PM (0I+GC)

Well, Lake Maracaibo is not a lake, but they call it a lake anyway.

Posted by: Cow Demon at August 09, 2025 06:40 PM (vm8sq)

89 Posted by: MAGA_Ken at August 09, 2025 06:40 PM (Vh9CX)

It’s the difference between watching a sporting event live or on TV.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 06:43 PM (VofaG)

90 You're conflating different theories. Predestination concerns our spiritual destination. What you describe is a form of determinism or fatalism

---------

We'll, if the universe is entirely deterministic, doesn't that govern one's spiritual outcome?

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at August 09, 2025 06:44 PM (/HI9S)

91 I have an old 8" reflector telescope from Orion. One of their distribution centers was in central California and that's where I bought mine. Picked it up.

It is a basic model. All manual. And I've forgotten how to calibrate it.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 09, 2025 06:45 PM (Q4IgG)

92 I'm a sucker for Mediterranean architecture and landscapes and this is set in 1903 in Sicily. (OK, OK, technically Sicily isn't in the Mediterranean.)
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks

How is Sicily not in the Mediterranean?

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at August 09, 2025 06:47 PM (ZVgZ4)

93 I used to do a lot of night photography. Here's a Moon I shot a few years ago.

https://tinyurl.com/488hsvr7
Posted by: BeckoningChasm

Nicely done!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 06:47 PM (nVXpg)

94 79 Well, since we've had mention of some theological subjects I hope it's o.k to mention that Buzz Aldrin took communion on the moon. Article from "Guideposts" magazine:

https://tinyurl.com/3k9nnddc
Posted by: FenelonSpoke
------------
It's certainly OK, Fen. Did not know that about Buzz Aldrin. Thanks for the link.

Posted by: scampydog at August 09, 2025 06:47 PM (41CYW)

95 if the universe is entirely deterministic, doesn't that govern one's spiritual outcome?
_-_-_-_-_
That's where Calvinism entered the room.

Posted by: Don in SoCo, whis 5 point Calvinist -adjacent at August 09, 2025 06:48 PM (vd6bO)

96 It’s the difference between watching a sporting event live or on TV.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 06:43 PM (VofaG)

———-

If the live sporting event is pee wee baseball and the TV event is the World Series.

Posted by: MAGA_Ken at August 09, 2025 06:48 PM (Vh9CX)

97 It’s the difference between watching a sporting event live or on TV.

Posted by: polynikes at August 09, 2025 06:43 PM (VofaG)

Hockey: Live is best
Football: TV is best (the field is too friggin' big)

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo at August 09, 2025 06:49 PM (0aYVJ)

98 I went to see the eclipse in Texas, and one of the coolest things was somebody set up a telescope so it projected the sun onto the wall. It was not a professional projection system; getting it aimed at the sun was mostly luck. The same person also had a pinhole box viewer.

There were clouds which you could see in the projection.

Posted by: Bombadil at August 09, 2025 06:50 PM (MX0bI)

99 I'm a sucker for Mediterranean architecture and landscapes and this is set in 1903 in Sicily. (OK, OK, technically Sicily isn't in the Mediterranean.)
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks

How is Sicily not in the Mediterranean?
Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at August 09, 2025

***
I think part of it fronts on the Tyrrhenian Sea, but part fronts on the Med? Something like that.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2025 06:50 PM (omVj0)

100 91 I have an old 8" reflector telescope from Orion. One of their distribution centers was in central California and that's where I bought mine. Picked it up.

It is a basic model. All manual. And I've forgotten how to calibrate it.
Posted by: Martini Farmer

Do you still have the manual, and/or can you download one from the internet?

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at August 09, 2025 06:50 PM (ZVgZ4)

101 'm a big fan of being on the water at night, the further from land the better. If you are out of sight of land on a clear night you are surrounded by stars.

My God, it's full of stars.
Posted by: JackStraw

You have that right!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 06:50 PM (nVXpg)

102 My wife has an old Meade 8inch SCT, back when we got it, the goto was the powerful equivalent of a 286 computer! Yeah. But I mostly take out my little 4inch Meade 2045 because it is so much easier. They say for beginners, the best scope is a pair of binoculars. Pick off the moons of Jupiter and you are hooked.

I always liked these books, great for getting into the hobby.

Nightwatch and The Backyard Astronomer by Terence Dickinson.

And hey, not a lurker any more!!!!!
Mostly because I read on my Ipad and it refuses to let me post a comment.

Posted by: Asko at August 09, 2025 06:52 PM (vfh/m)

103 Do you still have the manual, and/or can you download one from the internet?
Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at August 09, 2025 06:50 PM (ZVgZ4)

Call customer service.

*snicker*

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 09, 2025 06:52 PM (zZu0s)

104 The thing about the solar eclipses I've seen is the way the sunlight creates crescents when shining through trees. Very weird.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo at August 09, 2025 06:52 PM (0aYVJ)

105 Wolfus Aurelius -

You make distinctions that are finer than mine: according to Wikipedia - (emphasis mine) -
“The Tyrrhenian Sea (/tɪˈriːniən, -ˈreɪ-/, tih-REE-nee-ən ,-RAY-;[1] Italian: Mar Tirreno [mar tirˈrɛːno] or [-ˈreː-])[note 1] is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy.

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at August 09, 2025 06:55 PM (ZVgZ4)

106 >>You have that right!

I'll never get to space but that line is exactly how I feel at night on the ocean. There are so many more visible stars in all directions than can be seen just about anywhere on land it's almost overwhelming.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 09, 2025 06:56 PM (viF8m)

107 It was all 'Our Sea'.
-The Romans

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 09, 2025 06:57 PM (zZu0s)

108 >! If you are out of sight of land on a clear night you are surrounded by stars.

Probably the only real disappointment I’ve had on cruise ships is that they don’t turn the lights off at night.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 09, 2025 06:58 PM (EXyHK)

109 Had a 10"Dob for years, now I have a 9"meade.
Loads of fun.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 06:59 PM (nVXpg)

110 It is a basic model. All manual. And I've forgotten how to calibrate it.
Posted by: Martini Farmer

Do you still have the manual, and/or can you download one from the internet?
Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit
----------
Probably.

It's manual and I (sort of) remember how the inclination and declination works at my latitude.

3D space. Not for the light hearted.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 09, 2025 06:59 PM (Q4IgG)

111 PSA: Perseids meteor shower Tuesday night to Weds morning. Just get to dark sky and look north.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 07:01 PM (nVXpg)

112 You make distinctions that are finer than mine: according to Wikipedia - (emphasis mine) -
“The Tyrrhenian Sea (/tɪˈriːniən, -ˈreɪ-/, tih-REE-nee-ən ,-RAY-;[1] Italian: Mar Tirreno [mar tirˈrɛːno] or [-ˈreː-])[note 1] is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy.
Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at August 09, 2025

***
Yes, I glanced at the atlas after I posted, and there is no sharp delineation or strait that marks the T. Sea off from the Med. The entire basin is the Mediterranean, and the smaller seas like Ionian, Tyrrhenian, and Ligurian are all just names for regions within it.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 09, 2025 07:03 PM (omVj0)

113 I'll never get to space but that line is exactly how I feel at night on the ocean. There are so many more visible stars in all directions than can be seen just about anywhere on land it's almost overwhelming.
Posted by: JackStraw

2 long cruises on aircraft carriers taught me that.

The desert works just as well!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 07:03 PM (nVXpg)

114 Probably the only real disappointment I’ve had on cruise ships is that they don’t turn the lights off at night.
_-_-_-_
That's a problem 'bout everywhere. People move out my way and get one if those @?!@!# guard lights that the utility companies sell. For just pennies a month you can make your rural place like those urban areas where it is NEVER DARK! When you live in a rural area, a guard light just says, "something woth steaking over here!"....oh, sorry, apparently complaining is my hobby.

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 09, 2025 07:03 PM (vd6bO)

115 Many years ago (in my Space Camp nerd days) I read obsessively about the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. I used to have a goal of seeing all of the spacecraft from those missions that are on display. I've seen a few but don't think I'm going to make that goal. I have memories of sitting inside the Apollo 16 command module at the Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, but I'm not sure my memory is accurate because it seems like grubby kids should not be allowed to sit in a piece of history flipping switches and pressing buttons.

Never had a telescope nor any success with night photography, I lack both the skill and equipment, but I suspect that even good equipment would not make up for the lack of skill. When I lived in the Midwest I was obsessed with photographing sunsets and captured many stunning ones with my cheap-ass phone camera. They are not professional quality, but I like them. I made a calendar of my sunset photos as a Christmas gift a couple years ago.

Posted by: screaming in digital at August 09, 2025 07:06 PM (7HoOO)

116 The reason you see crescents in the shadows of leaves during a solar eclipse is that the openings between the overlapping leaf shadows is small enough to act as a pinhole aperture. The darkening that occurs during an eclipse makes it such that you have multiple pin-hole cameras or camera obscuras with pin-hole lenses. How perceptive of you to notice this during an eclipse! Also the images of crescents would be upside down to the crescent in the sky (don’t look without a good filter, there’s still enough light to burn your retinas if you look directly!).

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at August 09, 2025 07:06 PM (ZVgZ4)

117 2 long cruises on aircraft carriers taught me that.

The desert works just as well!
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 07:03 PM (nVXpg)

-----------

The Himalayas at 17000 feet on a clear night.

That's the gold standard.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at August 09, 2025 07:07 PM (/HI9S)

118 >>Probably the only real disappointment I’ve had on cruise ships is that they don’t turn the lights off at night.

Still nice but the ships lights makes a huge difference.

Back in my yute when I was living in PR we'd go to St Thomas occasionally. There was a place on the ocean side of the island called Larry's Hideaway. It was a campground on a beach in a cove and at the time there were very few houses in the cove. Very dark sky.

You could rent a tent that was built on a wood platform with two cots, no sheets or blankets, had to bring a sleeping bag or a blanket, for $15/night. It attracted young people from around the world somehow even if the days of no internet and night we'd all hang out on the beach, drink rum and stuff and look at the stars. Life was very good.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 09, 2025 07:07 PM (viF8m)

119 ...and clearly proofreading is not. Actually spending a bit of time building my first violin. Have done lots of repairs, but this is my first attempt at a full-uo build.

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 09, 2025 07:07 PM (vd6bO)

120 I’m afraid I’d become a couch potato more than I am if I got into gaming. You can get lost in that world. Something I could easily do with how good the games are today. I can’t imagine how it will be in 10 or 15 years . I assume a real life holographic deck.
Posted by: polynikes

Temptation.

https://is.gd/lkor3T

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Something Smells Funny In Here at August 09, 2025 07:08 PM (L/fGl)

121 The moon will be full or almost full yoday an torrow.

Pictures will make it appear large due to foreground objects if pic taken early in evening.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 07:08 PM (nVXpg)

122 please excuse crappy typing!

Having to retrain my left hand suxs!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 07:09 PM (nVXpg)

123
The Himalayas at 17000 feet on a clear night.

That's the gold standard.
Posted by: Cicero

Ill pass thank you.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 07:11 PM (nVXpg)

124 The most stars and the clearest I ever saw the Milky Way before I got the opportunity to spend nights at an observatory was camping at a state park in Texas. I woke up in the middle of the night, and it was gorgeous!

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at August 09, 2025 07:11 PM (ZVgZ4)

125 The moon will be full or almost full yoday an torrow.

Pictures will make it appear large due to foreground objects if pic taken early in evening.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 07:08 PM (nVXpg)

I learned that as a kid. Hold a dime at arm's length on the horizon, it looks huge. Hold the same dime over head, it looks small. No magic involved, just perception.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo at August 09, 2025 07:12 PM (0aYVJ)

126 The Himalayas at 17000 feet on a clear night.

That's the gold standard.
Posted by: Cicero

Ill pass thank you.

More like pass out. Not enough...ack....

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 09, 2025 07:12 PM (vd6bO)

127 Was in Ventura for 94 earthquake. Power out. Saw lots of stars.

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at August 09, 2025 07:14 PM (KePtS)

128 In Afghanistan I saw the Milky Way with my naked eyes.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at August 09, 2025 07:14 PM (lhenN)

129 15 Here's a universe conundrum.

If spacetime was created at the Big Bang, then what exists outside of the universe has no space and no time.

Meaning that the Universe - beginning, middle and end -- has existed in a timeless stasis. I'd say "forever" but forever has no meaning where time doesn't exist.

Meaning that everything that has happened and will happen in the Universe is already written, and cannot be changed.

Meaning that the Calvinists may have been onto something.

CHANGE MY MIND

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at August 09, 2025 05:45 PM (/HI9S)

One theory about time is that it exists so that everything doesn't happen all at once or more likely its existence prevents the universe from collapsing right after it forms, everything happening in an instant.

Posted by: Farquad at August 09, 2025 07:15 PM (znbnV)

130 Best star show is a tie.

Bighorn range WY in the fall. Friends and bourbon and night vision goggles. The Milky Way is mind blowing.

Spencer Spit off Lopez Island tied to a mooring buoy. There was also iridescence in the water. Plus the Perseid Metoer Shower. A stunning night.

Posted by: nurse ratched at August 09, 2025 07:16 PM (366xU)

131 Hold a dime at arm's length on the horizon, it looks huge. Hold the same dime over head, it looks small. No magic involved, just perception.

Does that work for dime bags?

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at August 09, 2025 07:16 PM (KePtS)

132 Meaning that the Universe - beginning, middle and end -- has existed in a timeless stasis. I'd say "forever" but forever has no meaning where time doesn't exist.

Meaning that everything that has happened and will happen in the Universe is already written, and cannot be changed.

Posted by: Cicero

Or time exists because every thing is in the universe.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 07:17 PM (nVXpg)

133 The most stars and the clearest I ever saw the Milky Way before I got the opportunity to spend nights at an observatory was camping at a state park in Texas. I woke up in the middle of the night, and it was gorgeous!
Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at August 09, 2025 07:11 PM (ZVgZ4)
~~~~~

Agreed. You don't have to be out in the ocean; there are areas to see a sky full of stars all over this country.

Posted by: IrishEi at August 09, 2025 07:17 PM (3ImbR)

134 My hobby on this incredibly lazy afternoon has been scotch and cigar. Cigar review to follow for Weasel-san. And I'll include a bit on the scotch as well. It's pretty good.

Posted by: Diogenes at August 09, 2025 07:17 PM (2WIwB)

135 In Afghanistan I saw the Milky Way with my naked eyes.
Posted by: BourbonChicken at August 09, 2025 07:14 PM (lhenN)

On a clear night (Winter is best.) I can see the Milky Way from my back yard. All you have to do is get about 50 miles away from the light pollution of a big city.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 09, 2025 07:17 PM (/lvBc)

136 For Wolfus and the other pipe smokers, the new C and D Sun Bear Navy Cask is damn nice. The sweetness is a bit more subtle than the previous version, Tupelo, but the orientals give it a nice depth. It's worth checking out.

Posted by: JTB at August 09, 2025 07:18 PM (yTvNw)

137 For those considering painting, oils are actually pretty forgiving in terms of mistakes or mixing, as they stay "wet" for quite some time. So you can stand back, look, and think "I'll check this again in the morning" and you can still move stuff around.

Acrylics dry faster so they require less time, but in my painting days I could never quite get used to them. You develop a "feel" for what you're working with. Been several years since I put brush to canvas.

Good luck! Remember, if you can sign your name consistently enough that your checks are cashed, you have the ability to draw.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 09, 2025 07:18 PM (CHHv1)

138 Nobody reads my comments.
i mentioned the bighorn mountains.
Guess I'll go dark.

Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo at August 09, 2025 07:19 PM (0aYVJ)

139 All you have to do is get about 50 miles away from the light pollution of a big city.

One of maaaany benefits!

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 09, 2025 07:19 PM (vd6bO)

140 there are areas to see a sky full of stars all over this country.
Posted by: IrishEi

Yup, we'll be driving 22 miles into the desert Tuesday and stay out all night

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 07:20 PM (nVXpg)

141 138 Nobody reads my comments.
i mentioned the bighorn mountains.
Guess I'll go dark.
Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo at August 09, 2025 07:19 PM (0aYVJ)

Dang dude!
You have any idea how hard it is to copy and paste this without reading it???

Posted by: Diogenes at August 09, 2025 07:22 PM (2WIwB)

142 138 Nobody reads my comments.
i mentioned the bighorn mountains.
Guess I'll go dark.
Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo at August 09, 2025 07:19 PM (0aYVJ)

Dang dude!
You have any idea how hard it is to copy and paste this without reading it???
Posted by: Diogenes at August 09, 2025 07:22 PM (2WIwB)
_-_-_
I didn't read ny of this...nice dark joke.

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 09, 2025 07:24 PM (te4DV)

143 My brother has always been my favorite painter. Watercolors were his specialty. He did one of a cyclist where you could almost feel the air rushing by.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 09, 2025 07:26 PM (HFcKg)

144 Well, I am going to go to Elnora, and watch me some bull riding. Brahmarama is a fun little rodeo. See you on the ONT.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 09, 2025 07:27 PM (/lvBc)

145 Oh wow, I run into a thread that I actually know something about.

I'm just finishing the final touches on my "last" telescope.

I call it "My Big Ten Inch!", thinking of getting some logo art put on the tube and I'm not sure how many exclamation points I should use.

Anyway, it's a custom F4.7, 10 inch Newt with all the trimmings including a carbon fiber tube and one of those new fangled strain wave mounts.

I've designed it around astrophotography which I've decide to take back up since the digital revolution has really made things tolerable.

I'm installing a full-frame cooled camera on it as soon as the adapters arrive.

I'll be sitting it out in my new to me backyard at my new house I just moved into after being a tech gypsy since the Space Shuttle program shut down.

They have all kinds of new gadgets for polar alignment but the problem right now for me is the clouds are stealing the show.

It's a semi portable rig and I was thinking of bringing it to the mome and set up if it looks like there might be some clear skies and Ben Had doesn't mind.

Posted by: pawn at August 09, 2025 07:27 PM (EITcu)

146 My brother has always been my favorite painter. Watercolors were his specialty. He did one of a cyclist where you could almost feel the air rushing by.
_-_
I've heard some people speculate about technology eliminating art, but it just ain't so. Endless possibilities

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 09, 2025 07:29 PM (vd6bO)

147 Don in SoCo, You are so right.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 09, 2025 07:32 PM (HFcKg)

148 There is no beginning, middle or end, the universe is infinite.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at August 09, 2025 07:33 PM (xFREA)

149 I'll be glad to advise any of the folks here on getting a scope to suit their fancy.

I've been involved in amateur astronomy since I was in Jr HS.

If you are at all interested in learning about star stuff, the absolute best thing you can do is locate your nearest amateur astronomy group and go and introduce your self. The folks there love to talk about this stuff and are usually extremely helpful.

Posted by: pawn at August 09, 2025 07:34 PM (EITcu)

150 >>There is no beginning, middle or end, the universe is infinite.

whoa ...

Posted by: JackStraw at August 09, 2025 07:34 PM (viF8m)

151 People I think will always want to create

Posted by: Skip at August 09, 2025 07:35 PM (+qU29)

152 The folks there love to talk about this stuff and are usually extremely helpful.
_-_-_
Like the HAM radio guys...might even be some overlap there...

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 09, 2025 07:36 PM (vd6bO)

153 Bioluminescence.

I’m not too smart. But. It was very cool.

And Mikey. I read your comments.

Posted by: nurse ratched at August 09, 2025 07:36 PM (mT+6a)

154 I await the first Original thought of artifical intelligence.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 09, 2025 07:38 PM (HFcKg)

155 >>Bioluminescence.

>>I’m not too smart. But. It was very cool.

There are a number of places in PR, Fajardo is one, that have pretty spectacular bioluminescence. Pretty cool to swim around in it.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 09, 2025 07:39 PM (viF8m)

156 Larry's Hideaway burned down earlier this year.

Posted by: pawn at August 09, 2025 07:39 PM (EITcu)

157 I went on a lovely walk today down my new waterfront park.

Took the water taxi to downtown and walked all the way down to the sculpture park. It was stunning.

I bet sunsets from the lookouts bewilder tourists. Heck, I take pictures almost every evening. If you’re unlucky enough to have shared you contact info with me, you probably get them.

I’ve seen the Northern Lights from my home beach.

I love it here.

Posted by: nurse ratched at August 09, 2025 07:40 PM (mT+6a)

158 >>Larry's Hideaway burned down earlier this year.

Well that's a damn shame. That place was special.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 09, 2025 07:42 PM (viF8m)

159 Would you consider stock and options trading a hobby? I've always owned stocks, but the last couple years I've begun day trading and options trading. Right now it is something interesting to learn and be engaged by. In a couple years, I think I could do it full time and maybe make a decent income doing. For now, it's on the side, so I guess it could be classified as a hobby.

Posted by: Lex at August 09, 2025 07:43 PM (y4H1r)

160 I only see stars in Sonoma, last night there was too much moonlight. The city has too much light pollution and fog, but mostly fog.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 09, 2025 07:44 PM (JvZF+)

161 nurse, I cherish the pictures you send. The beauty you find in your space brings a peace of the soul. Same for JackStraw. Thank you for sharing .

Posted by: Ben Had at August 09, 2025 07:44 PM (HFcKg)

162 The Banana River in Cocoa Beach has a biolum bloom every once in a while that is spectacular. There was a video on one of the links here recently of seeing rain drops spackle as they hit the water that was posted here recently.

I've seen that and it's about as rapturing as walking into a field of hundreds of fireflies. Everything else in your mind just goes away.

Posted by: pawn at August 09, 2025 07:45 PM (EITcu)

163 I await the first Original thought of artifical intelligence.
_-_-_
Right! Likely a long wait. Useful interface to large datasets, but no thinking going on there.

Posted by: Don in SoCo at August 09, 2025 07:46 PM (vd6bO)

164 SanFranpsycho, Sonoma is like a mental health holiday isn't it.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 09, 2025 07:47 PM (HFcKg)

165 WE HAVE A MOVIE MARQUE

Posted by: Skip at August 09, 2025 07:47 PM (+qU29)

166 I await the first Original thought of artifical intelligence.

"Destroy all humans...destroy all humans........

Hey, baby, you wanna destroy all humans?"

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 09, 2025 07:48 PM (CHHv1)

167 Yup, we'll be driving 22 miles into the desert Tuesday and stay out all night
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 07:20 PM (nVXpg)

I grew up in Phoenix, was in a very active Boy Scout troop. I loved the weekends when we could camp out in the desert! The adults would sleep, most of us boys never would - we would stay up and talk and watch the stars all night. When the sky is that clear of light, it’s just average to see 1 - 2 meteors per hour. Some just quick flashes of light, cosmic dust specks hitting the atmosphere, others more significant.

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 09, 2025 07:48 PM (q+E/R)

168 SanFranpsycho, Sonoma is like a mental health holiday isn't it.
Posted by: Ben Had at August 09, 2025 07:47 PM (HFcKg)
====
Holding my breath year-to-year...

Posted by: San Franpsycho at August 09, 2025 07:50 PM (JvZF+)

169 Full moons are a bane to observational astronomers, as well: too much light pollution.

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at August 09, 2025 07:53 PM (ZVgZ4)

170 Or time exists because every thing is in the universe.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 07:17 PM (nVXpg)

Or time exists because it is a property of *this* universe, but this universe is just a 4 dimensional bubble inside a far greater multidimensional reality, in which time, if it exists at all, is nothing at all like the time we experience here.

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 09, 2025 07:53 PM (q+E/R)

171 Wow, not a single comment on "My Big Ten Inch".

I'm sure I bore the crap out of most people but I thought someone here would appreciate that.

Sigh...

Posted by: pawn at August 09, 2025 07:53 PM (EITcu)

172 Posted by: Tom Servo

Absolutely!

Thre Persieds' shower, associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle,can throw 80 to 100 an hour 'shooting stars Aug. 12th.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 07:54 PM (nVXpg)

173 I don't want this thread to end. This has been like an evening at the MoMe where conversation is still the best form of communication.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 09, 2025 07:54 PM (HFcKg)

174 104 The thing about the solar eclipses I've seen is the way the sunlight creates crescents when shining through trees. Very weird.
Posted by: Mikey Alpha Kilo at August 09, 2025 06:52 PM (0aYVJ)

———

Most people don’t realize that each spot of light on the ground from the sun shining through tree leaves is actually an individual distorted image of the sun.

Posted by: MAGA_Ken at August 09, 2025 07:55 PM (Vh9CX)

175 >>Full moons are a bane to observational astronomers, as well: too much light pollution.

But they are gorgeous. I look forward to the Hunter Moon every year.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 09, 2025 07:55 PM (viF8m)

176 polynikes and other astrocurious folks should check out the hottest astrogadget now...is the Seestar, a smart telescope.

Easy peasy astrophotography system that does all the work and thinking for you.

https://www.seestar.com

Posted by: pawn at August 09, 2025 08:00 PM (EITcu)

177 >>Wow, not a single comment on "My Big Ten Inch".

I laughed. Used to be a neighbor of Joe Perry.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 09, 2025 08:01 PM (viF8m)

178 My maternal grandmother used to sell paintings for thousands of dollars back in the seventies. Alas, she is being forgotten, just another regional painter. She started out (in the 1940s) using oil paint which is more forgiving. Then she switched, I think in the 1960s, to acrylics, but she worked to make the acrylics give the same feel as oil paint. Acrylics are less forgiving, and this was a difficult task. She was satisfied with her results and continued to use acrylics until she couldn’t paint anymore, near the end of her life. She also used watercolor, off and on.

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at August 09, 2025 08:01 PM (ZVgZ4)

179 To put it in the vernacular- Nood!

Posted by: NemoMeImpuneLacessit at August 09, 2025 08:05 PM (ZVgZ4)

180 Absolutely!

Thre Persieds' shower, associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle,can throw 80 to 100 an hour 'shooting stars Aug. 12th.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at August 09, 2025 07:54 PM (nVXpg)

———

Comet Swift Tuttle, the most dangerous object known to man.

https://youtu.be/gxpW7KxeAig

Posted by: MAGA_Ken at August 09, 2025 08:07 PM (Vh9CX)

181 "Wow, not a single comment on "My Big Ten Inch".

I'm sure I bore the crap out of most people but I thought someone here would appreciate that.

Sigh..."

sorry Pawn, us lurkers read everything but seldom comment. I chuckled

Posted by: Wingnutt at August 09, 2025 08:16 PM (R8HM7)

182 One sad loss in our modern age is light pollution and comfort.
Got to NW New Mexico or high in the Rockies away from a town and you see the night sky as our ancestors did. Regarding comfort, how many of us have slept under the sky, no tent, house, trailer or yurt? Or stacked up whores, for a certain former First Son?

Posted by: PTSD giver at August 09, 2025 08:27 PM (vvIbr)

183 "Turn Left at Orion" is an excellent introduction to backyard astronomy. BTW, co-author Guy Consolmagno is a Jesuit brother (not a priest) and has been associated with the Vatican observatory in Arizona. He's written several other interesting books: "Brother Astronomer" is a selection of essays about his career; "God's Mechanics" discussion the interaction of religion and engineering. And he was a member of the IAU panel that demoted Pluto from planetary status.

Another place to visit, if one is interested in the history of astronomy, is Yerkes Observatory in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. While no longer a working observatory (too much light from Chicago), it still houses the world's largest refracting telescope, and the grounds and the architecture of the complex are well worth seeing in their own right.

Lake Geneva was also the home of Gary Gygax, one of the creators of Dungeons and Dragons. The Geneva Lake Museum has an interesting display on Gygax and D&D.

Posted by: Nemo at August 09, 2025 08:55 PM (4RPgu)

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