Wednesday night Sept 26

[Talitha]

There wasn't too much time tonight, but I got a few digital shots of the gorgeous moonrise and had about about 20 minutes of lunar views with the 80ST (which definitely isn't a lunar scope ). The image turned out a bit dark, but it was the best one of the lot. I definitely need a better low-light camera.

There was a feature on the SE limb which turned out to be crater Humboldt, named after Wilhelm von Humboldt. If the name sounds familiar, it should. Mare Humboldtianum on the NE limb (behind Endymion) is named after his explorer brother, Alexander von Humboldt (think: Humboldt Current).

If you want to read an excellent book, try 'Humboldt's Cosmos'. Many of the men named in the book also have lunar craters named after them... made me feel right at home while reading it.

[themos]

Oh Talitha! That is one atmospheric shot. :moon:

[The Warthog]

This is where you live? Great shot, and nice Humboldt story, too. I didn't know that.

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

I definitely need a better low-light camera.

Or Photoshop

Another nice post, thanks Talitha.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[Talitha]

Thanks! Not too sure if I ever mentioned this in the Lunar forum, but I own a 40 acre parcel out in the country. The roadside 20 acres is an old Christmas tree plantation and the back 20 acres is an Aspen forest and is where the house is. Nice change from Chicago where I was born and raised. The picture was taken from the 900' driveway as I was emerging from the forest into the plantation.

Thanks for the image touch-up, KK. I still need a better camera, though. We'll be approaching the fringes of the next solar max pretty soon, and I'm an Aurora-addict.

[stargazer1980]

but I own a 40 acre parcel out in the country.

Wahey we now have a permanant venue for all our starparties, one problem though................................................ its in another bl oody country god dammit

Darren

[Astroman]

Wahey we now have a permanant venue for all our starparties, one problem though................................................ its in another bl oody country god dammit

Darren

I'm sure we could fit everyone on my 3.3 acres. And, it's in Arizona. (I moved to Az from Chicago in 1981, BTW)

[Talitha]

Steve, everything here is in growth.. you probably have more usable open space on your land than I do.

[Astroman]

Ya, not a lot of foliage here.

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Good grief, I don't even have an acre of sky to look at!

I'd love a nice dark place in the country, it sounds really great.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[The Warthog]

I have two achers, but they're at the end of my legs.

The BOTTOM end, OK? :?

[jonifive]

Wow Carol, lovely piccy.

The moon was great on the 26th (Harvest Moon). And it was my birthday, so perhaps it looked better because of the whiskey!!!

40acres is about the same size as the cul-de-sac I live in........and there are 12 houses on it!

:shock:

JV

[The Warthog]

40acres is about the same size as the cul-de-sac I live in........and there are 12 houses on it!

JV

Some cul-de-sac! :shock: Especially for the UK. Mine has 8 houses, and isn't much more than two acres, or one hectare.

[jonifive]

Doh....that should read 21 houses not 12!!!!! Also the cul de sac is built around a large park/green. Useless for observing because it has lighting along the pathways!!!! And on the road. Except for the one directly outside my house

JV

[Jeff RV]

The picture was taken from the 900' driveway

Just a the average drive then!!! 8)

Jeff.

[Talitha]

WH, there was an elderly couple who used to own the farm about 5 miles down the road, and they had a sign in front that read "Happy Achers".

Well Happy Belated Birthday, Jonathen! :occasion4: I used to live in a cul-de-sac, too.. 9 houses but with no central park area. The homes at the upper end had larger pie-shaped pieces of land, but we poor folks at the lower end only had a square 1/4 acre. Still in all though, it was a LOT better than the postage-stamp sized back yard I grew up with in Chicago.

Here's a satellite image of my land. You can see the access paths between the blocks of Christmas trees. The swirled section at the top is a low grassy area that's used for dumping excess cut brush.

[jonifive]

Thanks Carol,

Thats a great big plot of land. I don't think I have ever seen a skunk in real life, not even in the zoo. Made me giggle as I thought of Pepe Le Pew wandering around your tripod legs.

Jonathen

[Talitha]

Actually, the scent isn't the only reason I don't like them.. they're a known carrier of rabies. Bats too, I think. Ah, the joys of country life!

[SteelRat]

a known carrier of rabies. Bats too, I think. Ah, the joys of country life!

Love it 8)

[Cloudwatcher]

Wow,what a great site,skunks or no! OK, go on, rub it in....Just how far away is the nearest street light?

If you say "What's a street light?" I'll never speak to you again!

CW

[SteelRat]

Wait for it.... (ducks and covers ready for impact )

[Talitha]

Streetlights? We don't need no stinking streetlights!

Actually, the nearest neighbor (1/4 mile away) has a yard light on a pole, but it's not visible except from the road. A different neighbor (3/4 mile away) has one too, but in order to see that one I need to go upstairs.. too many evergreens in the way from ground level.

[The Warthog]

Do you operate a Christmas tree farm, then? I always thought that would be a happy way to make a living. I've been thinking of planting some saplings in my back yard, and harvesting my own Christmas tree every five years.

How are the angles from your viewing area? Can you get close to the southern horizon at all. That's the most imprtant one to me, and I can't see much below 30degrees from my yard.

[Talitha]

It used to be a profitable plantation till the bottom fell out of the Christmas tree market.. that's why the previous owner sold the land. It's rapidly becoming an evergreen forest (read: Rabbit refuge ), but that's kinda cool too, because it attracts the predators. I saw a Bobcat just before sunset a few days ago.

The horizon is great in all directions as long as the taller trees are thinned out. It's wasteful to cut them down and not use them, but there's absolutely no market for overgrown Christmas trees. They're too big for Holiday use, but are far from being large enough to sell to the paper company for pulpwood.

[The Warthog]

Well, we gave up artificial trees many years ago, and now always have a real tree, usually a balsam fir. We just like it better, although with the kids gone, decorating isn't as much fun. Some people just wrap their artificial tree, put it in a closet, and bring it out again next Christmas. Somehow, that seems to defeat the purpose.

Haven't seen much of the Moon this week. For social reasons, I haven't been able to get the scope out. As tomorrow is my 30th wedding anniversary, I may be treading on thin ice if I get the scope out at night.