Image of the day

Captured by
RICHARD COFER

VdB 141 Ghost Nebula

About Astromart

My Account

New to Astromart?

Register an account...

Need Help?

Posts Made By: Darian Rachal

November 4, 2012 03:24 PM Forum: Politics

America's Future Position in the World?

Posted By Darian Rachal
At the library, I came across a very interesting book written by Zbigniew Brzezinski and published earlier this year; Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power. I find it pleasant to step away from the "campaign noise" of the news media and talk radio to encounter ideas about America's future, as well as the future of other regions of the world. You can goggle it to find details, but it does discuss the United States' unique position in the world and the consequences globally if this position deteriorates. Well worth taking a look at.

November 7, 2012 02:37 PM Forum: Politics

Krauthammer:"Obama Won But He's Got No Mandate"

Posted By Darian Rachal
I deliberated didn't watch any election coverage until late in the evening, but tuned into Fox to check the results. Shortly after Fox projected an Obama victory, Charles Krauthammer made a very interesting statement. I was hoping that RCP would post them the next day because they seemed to stand out from all the "hand wringing" by some: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/11/06/krauthammer_soul-searching_of_party_will_produce_reaganite_conservative_candidate.html .

I foresee what possibly may be a difficult next two years for the Obama administration. I guess we'll see if the Benghazi investigation has any substance or was just an anti-Obama political ploy.

For a realistic assessment of the present budget situation take the time to read Woodward's "The Price of Politics".

I imagine there is a bit of euphoria by Obama supporters because of his victory, but I think it will be short-lived.

December 16, 2012 03:01 AM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

Check out the price of gas in parts of Texas

Posted By Darian Rachal
http://www.texasgasprices.com/ 8O

December 21, 2012 11:54 PM Forum: Solar System Observing

Daylight Jupiter Observation With Unaided Eye

Posted By Darian Rachal
About 5:00 CDT this evening I spotted Jupiter with my binoculars then was able to see it fairly easily with my unaided eyes. The sun was pretty low in the west and set about 5:11. I find that sometime the seeing is fairly steady before it starts cooling off. Although Jupiter was only about 20° up, the view through my C6 was pretty nice, but began to worsen by 5:30 or so. I believe Jupiter will be in the general vicinity of the moon this weekend, so if I can locate it with my binoculars much earlier in the day, I think it will be interesting to see if I can spot it without any optical aid.

Anybody had any luck spotting it with the unaided eye when the sky is normal day time brightness?

June 2, 2013 03:05 PM Forum: Sports

College Baseball World Series

Posted By Darian Rachal
Anybody(beside me) watching the regional playoffs for the CWS? Most of the games around the country are streamed on ESPN3 and go from around noon, to after midnight for the west coast regionals. If you like college ball, it makes for some great viewing. smile

June 30, 2013 04:11 AM Forum: Religion

'Essence' of Catholicism

Posted By Darian Rachal
The way that the Latin words are sung is extremely beautiful and moving, at least to me. smile http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgpOgDLXXp4&feature=youtu.be

September 23, 2013 02:07 PM Forum: Off Topic Discussions

BMW 325 Problem

Posted By Darian Rachal
A friend of mine bought a used(approx. 35,000 miles) BMW 325 several years ago. I think he's had to put $3500.00 into the car in repairs. The main problem he has now is that when we get a heavy rain, the front passenger feet area get saturated with water. No other area gets wet. Any thoughts by anyone on where the water could be coming in? Perhaps a similar problem w/another vehicle? FWIW, his three previous Toyotas caused him no problems, but he always "wanted" a BMW. sad

October 11, 2013 06:11 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Re: what started it for me

Posted By Darian Rachal
Quite an enjoyable story, Billy. I think in my case I was visiting a cousin and we were walking around in the evening during twilight; we saw a fireball breaking up into pieces. I do not think I'd ever seen a meteor before. 8O Later that night there was a meteor storm and we saw numerous meteors streaking all the way across the sky. The entire evening had a surreal quality to it. I believe this was in '66 or later.

My first view of lunar craters was through another cousin's Gilbert reflector(3"?) with a partially coated mirror and a little square diagonal mirror. The magnification was probably 25X or so, but the craters were visible and I was astounded. That's why you'll never hear me refer to "department store" scopes as junk.

October 17, 2013 05:14 PM Forum: Sports

MLB Playoffs?

Posted By Darian Rachal
Anybody but me listening to the MLB playoffs; there have been some great games? smile

December 4, 2013 06:06 AM Forum: Antique/Classic/Vintage Optical Instruments

Re: 1978 orange tube C-8

Posted By Darian Rachal
Billy, Sounds like you've got a very nice telescope. I do not think the lack of coatings will be a problem for your use. I've had the opportunity to use an older SCT(1985 or so, that was un-coated AFAIK)and the biggest problem was image shift while focusing. If the optics are good, I think you will be very pleased. smile

Funding Member

Sponsors


View all sponsors

Search