Fred Ley

Yeah, here we go again. It was bad enough that I got shocked when I received my January 1980 issue of Sky & Telescope with the new logo-which looked like trash. Then in the early 90's they decided to make another change to the magazine and the red and white box in the upper left corner reminded me of LIFE magazine-again, how original. I recently asked S & T editor Richard Feinberg as to "how long will the glue that is used on the binding of the magazine last". The glue will dry over a period of time and the pages will all fall out. He did not know. Of course by then we will probably have the whole magazine on a cd-rom type of storage format. He did say that they were going back to using staples to bind the magazine. I agree, the new paper looks very cheap and unappealing to the eye. But in this day and age we tend to see an increase of "quality goes down and price goes up". Oh well, so much for my two cents worth. -Fred

Frank, I saw the images of new mount on Astromart. Looks real impressive along with the impressive price tag too. All it takes is money as they say. If I know Atrophysics, the mount is a winner. -Fred

George, Manos Kardasis also does variable star observations. He can be reached at astromanos2002@yahoo.gr He uses a 10-inch SCT for observing. -Fred

George, is that you? -Fred

Hi All, I bought my first Nagler in 1984, it was the 13mm eyepiece. I still love that eyepiece. Since then I have also acquired the 4.8 Nagler which is is a very nice eyepiece too. I do have the Tele Vue 32mm, 40mm (1.25-inch) and 55mm Plossel (2-inch) and the 19 mm and 24mm Wide Field (1.25-inch) which give a 65-degree appearant field of view. I really like the 24mm it performs well. It is interesting to note that in 1984 I asked Al if he was going to improve upon the Nagler series which at that time consisted of the 4.8, 7, 9, 11 and 13mm eyepieces. He said that that was it. Well history has proven otherwise as we all know and Tele Vue has been churning out excellent eyepieces ever since. -Fred

Hi, Went to the link that you provided and found the article to be of great value. He reminds me of another person that I admire, Richard Feynman, the late physicist from Cal Tech. Thanks for the headsup on this article. Clear Skies, Fred

Hi Dimitri, You can order the book from Amazon in the United Kingdom. Here is a direct link... http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_/026-6455785-2356448?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=star+lore If you have a problem with the link, just go to their web site in the UK and enter "Star Lore" in their search window. That should do the trick. Fred

Hi, Another good book on star names is "Star Names Their Lore and Meaning" (formerly titled: Star-Names and Their Meanings) by Richard Hinckly Allen. The book is published by Dover Publications. The ISBN is 0-486-21079-0 and it is a 563 page book. From the back of the book it states... Here is an unusual book for anyone who appreciates the beauty and wonder of the stars. Solidly based upon years of thorough research into astronomical writings and observations of the ancient Chinese, Arabic, Euphrates, Hellenic and Roman civilizations, it is an informative, non-technical excursion into the vast heritage of folklore and history associated witht the heavenly bodies. This book is the only complete coverage of its kind in English. It is completely non-technical, hence accessible to etymologists, anthropologists, and amateur star-gazers. But it contains so much unique reading material on early astronomical theory, so many delightful accounts drawn from the pages of books almost impossible to find today, that even the practicing astronomer will find it refreshingly new and instructive. Idexes to subjects, arabic and Greek names, Biblical references. Bibliography. xiv + 563pp. 5.375 x 8.5 inches. Paperbound. I hope this book may be of some use to you. Fred

Hi Sofi, Being new at this, I would suggest that attending a starparty is a great way to gain some firsthand knowledge about telescopes, such as type, size, weight, capabilities, potential and price - to name a few. I agree, Nightwatch is a great book to start your adventure into astronomy with. Especially that it has been translated into the Greek language. Our biggest enemy in astronomy is our atmosphere. When it is steady we get wonderful sharp views of objects, but, when it is unsteady we get unpleasant images. Looking through our atmosphere is like looking up from the bottom of a swimming pool-you don't get a great image due to currents. Looking down into a swimming pool everything looks remarkably clear-which is why satellites obtain such marvelous images of our planet when looking down through our atmosphere. From Athens one can observe the Sun (WITH A PROPER FILTER), the Moon, the planets, double stars, variable stars, and some of the brighter objects in the Messier list. Fred

Don't know that the title of this thread should be changed. The initial posting was for the Columbia accident. Perhaps it might be prudent to initiate a new thread instead of taking an existing thread and going off on a different tangent with it. -Fred Ley

Yes, just about the solar filter. The moon filter is great for the moon-only. Fred

***SAFETY WARNING*** I went and explored Big Star Optics web site and discovered to my horror that they sell glass solar filters that fit over the eyepiece. These filters are totally unsafe and should never be used. Doing so exposes the observer to the risk of the glass filter breaking from the build-up of excessive solar heat and permanent irreparable eye damage to the viewer. I do not know how to write this in Greek, but if someone could translate it, I would be grateful. Fred

Didn't know that a thread already existed on this program. I must have skipped over it by accident. Anyhow, it is a great program. Fred

Hello Everybody, There is a nice freeware program titled "Stellarium" that can be downloaded at www.stellarium.org and has a file size of 34.9 MB. It took me about eight minutes to download the file with a 786.4 Kbps service. There is also mention of Linux and Apple OS mentioned on their home page. Enjoy! Fred

Hi Dimitri, The image shift that one observes when attempting to focus a schmidt-cassegrain telescope has always been annoying for me and other observers. As you may know, the primary mirror is moved when one attempts to focus this type of optical system. The primary is pushed from one point only and this causes the very slight image shift. Placing a focuser that will thread on the rear cell of the telescope is the best way to go-that I am aware of. Also don't forget to collimate your system too. I hope my two cents worth is of some help. Fred

Yeah! My TEAM ASTROVOX shirts arrived today, the 11th. I guess we may see a lot the shirts at the Patras meeting making a big Astronomical Fashion Statement. What next? Astrovox bumper stickers for your car? Fred

Hi Nuke, Don't forget the biggest obstacle we have to deal with is the seeing. Yes, light pollution does play a significant role too, but seeing is the killer. From a few hundred feet up and up to roughly 10 miles (16 kilometers) we encounter air cells that on average have a diameter from 4 to 8 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) in diameter. These air cells distort the light coming towards us from outer space as the air cells move across our line of sight. The smaller aperture telescopes, 4 to 8 inches in diameter, can handle this distortion a lot better due to the fact that their optics are about the same size as the air cells. A larger telescope, say a 10-inch, will have a hard time producing a nice steady image. In the meantime a 4-inch telescope will provide nice sharp images. Naturally on real bad nights you put the telescope away. OK, this is a real quick description about what air cells do to our viewing. Hope that it is of some help. I have some articles that I could get to you if you have any further interest. Fred

From what I can gather, it sounds like quite a few people will be going up to the mountain. Should be a lot of fun. Now if we could only block out the lights of the greater Athens area. What would be decent is if the mountain peak happened to be above a large cloud layer that would blanket the area and dim the light pollution. Fred