Success!
Got it! So cool to find these things. What I found looks a lot more like this photo. The finder scope that came with the telescope is kind of crude and I’m finding pointing it in the general area, educated guess, works a lot better than trying to painstakingly point it with the infrared. I can always upgrade and for $150 I could have got a GoTo, but where’s the fun? Anyway, it’s a lot of fun finding the Messier objects. Very satisfying. One day I’ll just push a button and let the computer do all the work.
Was working with the the 10x50 binocs AND the telescope and now I got eye fatigue. Goodnight Universe.
M13 & M57
Taking a break. Mars and Saturn are looking better and better. Having a hard time with the Ring Nebula. I’m all deep space tonight. I was pretty lucky I got M13 right away. It was a dull fuzzy, reminded me of Andromeda, but averted gaze etc brought out more detail.
This is a real challenge. I know not to expect these colors, but it is supposedly an easy target. Gonna keep trying. I hear the tree frogs calling.
Confessions of a Michael Stipe
“It’s only been six months,” longtime R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe says quietly. “So it’s really hard to even figure out who I am.” The 52-year-old is of course referring to life after his band, who — after three decades, 15 albums, and a meteoric rise from indie icons to mainstream superstars — announced they planned to “call it a day.”
“It’s pretty wild,” Stipe says. “I have this sensation that I’ve never felt … It’s kind of a newfound freedom.”
It was the end of an era, and not only for Stipe, but for anyone who’d grown up with REM. And yet, even as Stipe soul-searches, he is making some of the most creative work of his life. He’s got a studio in downtown Manhattan, where he is creating bronze sculptures of old cameras and cassette tapes. He’s producing a documentary about Internet fame. He (was) on Instagram, until a few weeks ago, when he proclaimed he did not want “any part” of Facebook “up in my grill.” And he has a crazy, beautiful, eccentric Tumblr — Confessions of a Michael Stipe — that he uses as a scrapbook to document it all. We sat down with Stipe at the Tumblr offices (among many giddy staffers) to get inside his head.
Via Storyboard
Gassendi
This caught my eye the other night. Gassendi. The diamond ring.
All I need is you tonight. Flying like a cement kite.
Bye Bye Venus
Wanted to get a look at Venus before it vanishes pretty soon. It’s been such a “star” for the past few months. It strikes ME as odd to see it as a crescent. It’s eerie. It’s looks exactly like the moon, a very familiar sight, but very much further away.
Approaching First Quarter
Little hazy, but I’m neglecting the moon. Remembered the moon filter this time and even at first quarter it is blinding. With the 2x Barlow it’s fascinating. I only know the most basic/famous features so, I should study a map. At this light it looks like rough concrete, but the moon’s maria are LIKE BUTTAH BABY.
The Moon
by Daniella Cha
“The Moon is a round
lamp that comforts you. It is
the sunʼs big shadow and only
shows itself at night. The moon is a
silver torch that floats in space with an
irregular shape. Sometimes like a golf
ball and sometimes like a banana.
Without the moon, all the stars would
run away. The Moon is your best
friend in the late hours just
before you sleep.”
