Light Pollution Filters

This Link appears to be, the only place where the Ice Lipo filter is tested & discussed.
I use it myself.

Some notes from back in 2011:

First visual observing session - 3/10/11 Using Barska 15x70 binocs on low-cost tripod.
Observed Globular star clusters M13 and M92. The Hercules Cluster was pretty easy (of course). M92 was very faint, however.

More Great Binocular-Related Links!

This fellow has created some amazing sketches:

Collection of awesome sketches, made with Binocs

PDF document discussing binocular mounts

And, if you feel like reading some intricate details, about each Deep-Sky Object:

http://www.starman.co.uk/book/hba-home.htm

http://www.lightandmatter.com/binosky/binosky.html

Great Binocular Links!

http://www.saguaroastro.org/content/Great-Objects-for-Rich-Field-Telescopes.htm

http://www.stargazing.net/david/binoculars/index.html

A couple more very brief Book Reviews

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I've recently read, and found the following two books to be excellent!
And, can recommend them:

Binocular Astronomy (Patrick Moore’s Practical Astronomy Series)
Author: Stephen Tonkin
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1846283086 - Excellent! A+++

Viewing the Constellations with Binoculars
250+ Wonderful Sky Objects to See and Explore
Series: Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series
Author: Kambic, Bojan
2010, X, 510 p. 204 illus., Softcover
ISBN: 978-0-387-85354-3 - Great book, only half-way through it, but really like it so far! Great tips & reference info.

Clear skies!
-Al

Old film photo - Corona Borealis

Recently found an old film AP pic I took. I'm afraid I don't have a lot of info on this one.
I can tell you it was taken years ago, using Kodak ISO 200 Slide Film, and scanned with an Epson scanner. It may have been taken with a Pentacon Six, Medium Format camera, but again, I'm not sure. I had to significantly reduce it, just to upload it. Orig. size was over 96MB!
Just a random shot of the area near the constellation Corona Borealis (seen on the left-hand-side of the pic).

Tried Film Astrophotography again...

I tried tripod-mounted film Astrophotography again...Yes, a bit of Déjà vu here. I basically only ended up exposing ~1 roll of film per camera. And, for some cameras; I didn't even get to shoot any film - That's how fast I changed my mind, and started listing them on e-bay. I hope to post some of the results soon...
I believe I've only got about a handful of "viable" prints to show for it -For the whole ordeal, and all the inconvenience, etc.

Well, this was my 2nd (low-budget) film camera collection, when it was at about it's "peak"
Just before everything was sold (on e-bay):

I did have a Petri 1.9 in pristine condition (not pictured) - And, I didn't get a chance to even shoot one roll of film through it.


Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
-Albert Einstein

*sigh*

Some "Quick & Dirty" Book reviews

It's been quite a few years since I sold all my Astronomy books. There were some good ones in my collection. I've always especially loved books by Philip Harrington
(http://www.philharrington.net/). In fact, I still have (and read) the 1st Edition of his Star Ware.

Well, I've been reading a lot lately... Since I've become very interested in Visual Astronomy again, I've bought several books. And, I thought I'd list them here, and give my quick impressions of each.

Visual Astronomy in the Suburbs: A Guide to Spectacular Viewing (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series)[Paperback]: Excellent, highly recommended. I love this one. I also like the fact that the subject of Image Intensifiers. The subject is new to me, and really interesting. Even though I have owned and used a Meade CCD camera before.

Binocular Astronomy (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series) [Paperback]Stephen Tonkin (Author):
Awesome, just as good (maybe better) than the book above! Just great - A wealth of information.

Real Astronomy with Small Telescopes: Step-by-Step Activities for Discovery (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series) [Paperback] Michael Gainer (Author):
Not a bad book, but not fantastic either. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed with this one.
While reading this book, I get the feeling of actually being discouraged from attempting any visual observing. The Author seems to dwell on the negative side of observing from light-polluted areas.

The Urban Astronomer's Guide: A Walking Tour of the Cosmos for City Sky Watchers (Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series) [Paperback]Rod Mollise(Author):

I loved this book! I actually haven't finished reading it all yet. But, I can highly recommend it. It is the exact opposite of the book reviewed above ^ This book is simply excellent! I give it an A+

Well, that's it for now. More book reviews will follow, at some point in the future...

Rod Mollise (Author)

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One of several old Barn Door Trackers...

Here are some old pics I came across, of one of the Barn Door Trackers I had.
I tried to get it to work...but literally blew out transistors on the circuit board because the camera was too heavy. I went through two Stepper Motor controller boards, before I gave up and sold it.