Posts Made By: Maurice Clark

Hi everyone,

I have just moved to a new college and one of the first things I am going to have to do is switch the astronomy course from film to digital.

So, I am looking for suggestions for digital cameras that can be attached to the telescope for use by students during obseving labs. They do not have to be particularly fancy and cost is a consideration as the department would need to purchase 4 -6 of them. The key point would be connecting to the scopes and ability to take longer exposures.

Thanks for any help.

Maurice

This was sent to me by a Christian friend in Singapore. I love it, especially the end!!

GOD'S DIET
And God populated the earth with broccoli and cauliflower and spinach and green and yellow vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.
And Satan created McDonald's. And McDonald's brought forth the 99-cent double- cheeseburger. And Satan said to Man, "You want fries with that?"
And Man said, "Super size them." And Man gained pounds.

And God created the healthful yogurt, that woman might keep her figure that man found so fair.
And Satan froze the yogurt, and he brought forth chocolate, nuts and brightly colored sprinkle candy to put on the yogurt. And woman gained pounds.

And God said, "Try my crispy fresh salad."
And Satan brought forth creamy dressings, bacon bits, and shredded cheese. And there was ice cream for dessert. And woman gained pounds.

And God said, "I have sent your heart healthy vegetables and olive oil with which to cook them."
And Satan brought forth chicken-fried steak from Cracker Barrel so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained pounds, and its bad cholesterol went through the roof.

And God brought forth running shoes, and Man resolved to lose those extra pounds.
And Satan brought forth cable TV with remote control so Man would not have to toil to change channels between TV1 and TV2. And Man gained pounds.

And God said, "You're running up the score, Devil."
And God brought forth the potato, a vegetable naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition.
And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fat fried them. And he created sour cream dip also. And Man clutched his remote control and ate the potato chips swaddled in cholesterol.

And Satan saw and said,"It is good." And Man went into cardiac arrest.

And God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.....
And Satan created Health Insurance Companies.

Hi all,

For the first time in nearly 6 weeks the clouds partially cleared and I was able to collect a few photons. I have just moved to a new position at a college close to DC, so the skies were rather crud but not as bad as I expected. LM was about 4.2. The campus observatory has a Meade 16" GPS, so I was trying that out with my ST9. (Note number 1: must get focal reducer!!)

The tracking was not too bad although there was a lot of vibration. (The telescope is on top of a 6 story building!!) The big problem was that the telescope is not well polar aligned, making it very difficult to locate objects on a small CCD field.

Eventually I managed to locate NGC 7331. The image attached is a combination of 20, 60 second images, meadian combined in CCDSoft to remove trails. Final processing in Photoshop.

Not the best of images, but with more exposure time and some colour filters, it could be a fun scope!

Cheers,

Maurice

Hi all,

I have just moved into the Gaithersburg area, which is about 25 miles north-west of DC. Does anyone know of any astronomy clubs in this district?

Thanks

Maurice

Hi Jim,

I do not know how it would go in the USA, but let me give you a quick run-down on what happened in OZ. Little Jonnie went before the electorate and very clearly stated that he would never introduce a GST. (The equivalent of what you are talking about) What is one of the first things he does when he gets re-elected? Introduces a 10% GST! :C

What was the result? Low income earners were given a tax break of a few $ per week, High income earners were given a tax break of over $100 per week. The price of basic commodities such as transport, household items, etc increased in price. The cost of luxury items such as high cost cars, etc went down in price.

The net result? Low income earners were screwed (again) while high income earners (including the pollies) had more. Very typical from a liberal government! :C

My suggestion.... oppose a federal sales tax for all you are worth. It is just a method of shifting a greater portion of the tax burden from the rich to the poor.

On another point. You mention about increasing savings. I am all for that, however much of the economic growth of the past few years has been because the population at large has spent heavily on credit. Despite this comsumer spending is said to be "weak". If people spend less and save more, how would that create more jobs and reduce bankruptcies? From my understanding of the current economic thinkiing is that everyone should spend, spend, spend, like there is no tomorrow in order to create demand. :S I never could understand how economists think! (I am assuming that they do!!! )

Cheers,

Maurice

Hi all,

This was just posted on the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3562552.stm

The US trade deficit has unexpectedly swollen by 19% to a record $55.8bn (£30.4bn) in June.

The country suffered the biggest drop in exports in nearly three years, just as imports hit record levels.

The widening deficit came as a shock to Wall Street.

"It suggests a major downward revision to second quarter GDP. It's obviously dollar-negative," said Rebecca Patterson of JP Morgan.

Kevin Logan, an analyst with Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, described the figures as "extraordinary".

"I've never seen this big a swing in one month," he said.

While this is only one month's figures, with oil prices going through the roof, weak employment growth, and now a big drop in exports, this cannot be good news for the economy and for the US$. Sooner or later, the US$ will have to drop, undermining its usefullness as the leading form of exchange in international trade.

I also wonder just how much we A'Marters have contributed to it.
The country's trade deficit with China widened to a record $14.2bn as Chinese imports rose to a record high.

Too many A'Marters purchasing those cheap Chinese refractors!!?? 8)

Cheers,

Maurice

Hi Bill,

You should know by now that although Jesus said "Blessed are the peacemakers", on this forum it is more a case of "Blasted are the peacemakers"!!!!

Cheers,

Maurice

Hi all,

Some very sad news has just been released. One of the world's foremost comet researchers has died.

Maurice

TO: CfA Community
FROM: Charles Alcock, George Field, and Irwin Shapiro
DATE: 30 August 2004
SUBJECT: Fred Whipple

Professor Fred Whipple died today, a few months shy of his
98th birthday. He had worked at the Harvard College Observatory
since 1931 and from 1955 to 1973 directed the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory here. He was most famous for his
theory of comets as 'dirty snowballs.' He had foreseen the
artificial satellite era and was prepared with a world-wide
tracking network, Moonwatch, when Sputnik was launched on
4 October 1957. Fred initiated SAO's ground-based observatory
on Mt. Hopkins in Arizona and was instrumental in the design
and construction of the Multiple-Mirror Telescope.

A memorial service for Fred will be announced in the Fall.
In the meantime, his wife, Babbie, would prefer no phone calls,
visits, or cards. Visiting arrangements will be
made at a later date.

Hi all,

Just been checking out the latest NASA news and it appears that the parachutes did not open during the re-entry of the Genesis spacecraft. It crashed in Utah and sustained some damage. Do not know yet if the solar wind samples are still usable.

NASA briefing in a few minutes.

Bummer.

Maurice

EDIT: Needless to say, the woo-woo's are having a field day with all sorts of nonsense.

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/bbs/message.php?message=428662&mpage=1&topic=3&showdate=9/8/04&replies=11

{mental health warning!!} 8O :S

Hi all,

Just read on the BBC website that Nature has focussed the US presidential election campaign on science by asking both President George Bush and Senator John Kerry for their views on the major issues.

You can find the artical here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3660276.stm

Of interest to me was the comments about space exploration. It would seem that Bu$h has backed down on his grand vision to Mars, although he still wants to go back to the Moon. (Assuming you are not an HB'er of course! 8O )

Kerry does not give any specific vision.

Mr Bush appears to have back-pedalled from his "man on Mars" ambition but he still wants man to go back to the Moon. "America will return to the Moon as early as 2015 and no later than 2020 and use it as a foundation for human missions beyond the Moon." He does not mention Mars.

Mr Kerry is sceptical. "There is little to be gained from a space initiative that throws out lofty goals, but fails to support these goals with realistic funding." However, he and John Edwards, he says, will increase funding for a continuation of space exploration.

Regards,

Maurice