Posts Made By: Alex McConahay

I don't know what the $1 bills would be for--why not just change to Scheckels in the first place and be done with it. And if I remember correctly, the Visa card worked in most places. I usually get twenty to thirty dollars worth of local currency at the exchange at the airport/border to tide me over until I can get what I need in town.

I crossed over from Jordan, and then back, and it was simple pie at the border. Took a bus both ways. Be sure to have them mark your passport with a separate paper so that when you leave you can visit other mid-east countries. They know the routine.

There are lots of things to see in Israel--

Obviously check out the regular things. Massadda, the Dead Sea, Qumram, (all in a day's journey on an organized bus ride that you can get on pretty much without booking)--$30 to $40 if I remember correctly and it has not changed. And leave lots of time to walk around Jerusalem without a tourguide. It is not very big. You can walk the whole stations of the cross in less than what?--fifteen minutes at most. (That is--just walk them-not actually meditate or truly appreciate them----I am just trying to give you a scale of the city.)

I cannot say I am an expert on all the guides--but Lonely Planet is always my favorite. I should say that different people travel in different styles, and Lonely Planet fits mine best--hostels, busses, and such.

Be very careful of the religious calendar. THings can close up for a day or two without warning (well, the locals and anybody who is Jewish knows about it, but poor little Gentile me kept getting in trouble with it!) And since you are dealing with several religions, be aware that the calendars are different. For instance, you cannot go on the temple mount on Fridays unless you are Moslem, and on Passover because, well, you cannot do anything on Passover.....so, if your only two days in the Holy City are Friday and that Saturday--you are out of luck. And if you were going in the spring, you would have to be aware that it is possible to be there on Palm Sunday and Easter on the same Sunday---depending on whether you are using the orthodox or western calendar.

In like manner, be aware that some things take place at sunrise or sunset, and plan your day accordingly.

Be sure to take a bag to carry all your stuff that you have to put in and out of your pockets every time you have to get searched and go through a scanner! I tend to travel with cargo pants and use those pockets for most things.....THis means a lot of loading and unloading of pants pockets in walking around certain parts of town (Jerusalem). It is easier to just toss almost everything in a bag/backpack and hand them the bag every time you cross a checkpoint. Obviously do not take any weapons with you.

As usual, whenever you are away from home, keep your passport and most of your money secure in a money belt around your waist. Carry a smaller purse or wallet to hold a day's worth of money, and a photocopy of your passport id page. Most places will accept that as id, and you do not have to dig into your moneybelt to show a passport. (Advice not appropriate for crossing borders, airports, etc.....)

And while there are lots of ugly things to see there: bigotry, oppression, some poverty, and all of that, and it can look scary with all the barbed wire and such, it really is a nice place to visit. (Don't take that comment wrong. I know these ugly things I have mentioned are found everywhere, and barbed wire can be found in other countries. I am not picking on Israel in particular--but don't be put off by the fact that these people do not officially get along with each other and occasionally choose to kill each other, or do what they feel is necessary to stop the other side from killing them or robbing from them.) I never felt unsafe there, and nobody was ever unfriendly. That security stuff just looks horribly scary! (But how scary can it be if somebody can take all those hours writing their graffitti on the wall?)

Alex

You can get a plate that moves your eyepiece in x or y axis. I've seen them I think on a Williams Optics scope--but I have no idea where it came from.

A second thought.....Use your planetarium program to locate a star for guiding. In some shots (like M81-82), there don't seem to be many. In others (like M33 I think) there are so many little stars, it is hard for the guider to keep track of which one it is using.

Alex

Floaters?

Alex

Of course, I would go with Tyson and a few others as most visible, but most influential is a whole other matter.

....Director of NASA who decides which observatories are going to be launched?

....Mike Brown for causing the whole Pluto controversy?

....The guys who found the extra-terrestrial planets?

I think step one would be to decide what the most important questions in astronomy are right now, and then decide who has the most influence on them.


Alex

Is that a single frame?

Alex

Last night's presentation at the Riverside Astronomical Society was about the science of visual perception--including anatomy, optical theory, impage processing, and all that.

In addition, at the dinner before the meeting, I talked with a professional astronomer who filled me in on some more about this whole thing.

I found out that I have a 5mm F5 optical system on my face. (Actually binocular system, so I have two 5mm F5. When I was younger, I had a 7 mm F5, but as my cornea got stiffer in old age, I could not open the aperture as much.) The optical quality is not all that spectacular. It has a lot of chromatic abberation. It would not be considered even achromatic. (Luckily I have a great image procesing system that corrects for this.) I have a zoom lens for a cornea with autofocus that depends on tiny muscles.

Now, why did I get that chromatic abberration at some times, and not at others? DOn't know yet. But I have been given some tests to run if and when I notice it again.

Alex

Note to those whose postings I removed--

As I have said, I planned to delete all posts on the subject after I declared the threads dead. This would include those which continued to explain why it was okay to be posting about it in the first place.

C'mon guys, drop it.....I'm on dial-up back here at Gramma's house, and it is a pain to monitor.

Alex

Oh, I don't know.

I would take twenty years of absurd income, with a year of sucky everything, followed by another twenty years of absurd income, as many of these people are going to do.

These folks are still pretty smart, have lots of contacts, and really know how to bounce back.

Alex

YOu know, you can buy the batteries that are the heart and sould of those fancy "power supplies" for about half of what you pay for the rest of the "power supply." A couple of wires to a cigarette plug (about $5.00), and a small wall charger (like you already have around the house) will probably do you just fine.

Alex

James,

I don't recall reading or hearing that focal ratio has much to do with light pollution.

The object of the game is to gather light. The faster the focal ratio, the shorter the exposure time for extended objects (like nebula).

It is true that a faster focal ratio will gather light pollution more quickly than a slower one, and therefore equivalent exposures will show more light pollution with a faster scope. But the cure for that is to simply expose for shorter times. (Well, it is not a "cure" for light pollution.) One generally exposes for the value of the background sky. You are looking for that point at which the light pollution (skyglow) rises above the electronic and other noise. That is, when the light pollution starts to register (background sky glow rises to the perceptible---)stop the exposure.

What you are after is the difference between light pollution and other noise and the signal noise of your object. As soon as light pollution (skyglow) reaches electronic noise, you are at the point of diminshing returns. So, stop the exposure, and begin a new one.

You get to that point quicker with a faster focal ratio, but the signal and the noise rose at the same rates.

At least as far as I know.

Alex