Talk’n About Space Rocks

December 27th, 2008 Thomasso

When I was up to my neck with term papers and exams there was a huge meteorite that travelled above Alberta and Saskatchewan that was seen by thousands of people last month, but I was too busy to catch all of the news on it.  So I’m sort of catching up on what I’ve missed. I’m kind of a back yard astronomer, so stories like this really catch me attention.

Seeing meteorites are rare events. We all have seen little ones that streak across the sky, but not too many have seen ones that have hit the earth. What is even more spectacular are the numerous video cameras that caught the fire-ball lighting up the night sky on November 20, 2008. When I watched the videos on You-Tube, and the quality does it no justice, I was amazed at just how bright that object was when it burnt up in the atmosphere. And from what I have read people did managed to find bits and pieces of it.

A bright fireball lit up the sky over parts of Canada and was probably a meteor which may have hit the ground in central Alberta. Reports from all over western Canada said the bright flashes occurred at 5:30 pm MST on Nov. 20. The bolide split the evening sky and fragmented during a series of booming explosions. Source: Universe Today,  November 21, 2008.

For the people who were really close to the event they heard the explosion that it made when it entered the atmosphere. That would have being very cool to have witnessed. I’m sure there were people who thought it was American or Russian space junk falling out of orbit and landing in our back yard.

I caught a little bit of it on the news last week when CBC said that experts did manage to find small chucks of the meteorite from November 20, but I have yet to find anything on the net. I just started my search today, so hopefully very soon I can dig up some dirt on what the scientist think it was, or how big? I would like to know.  So Far from CBC I found this story that had some intersting facts about how people perceived what they saw.

ADDED December 27, 2008: Thanks to Dean for giving me the right TV station for the location and search details of that meteorite site.  Please see this link for photos, information and video of what has being found up until then at CTV Edmonton, AB web site.

The group, organized by the University of Calgary, has recovered more than 100 meteorites from the site near Lloydminster, on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and says many more are still out there. Source: CFRN, Alberta.

I think that would be cool to find a 4 billion year old rock that up until November 20th, 2008 was floating out in space.

Posted in Astronomy, General, Video | 1 Comment »

A little Respite: Shooting Stars

August 12th, 2008 Thomasso

Routine is something that is either good or bad, and is something once stuck in, it is hard to get out of once you are set in it. Depending upon which way you look at it, the pessimist’s, or the optimist’s perspective, the glass becomes just a glass with water in it, and any inspiration is just a measure of what level the water is at at any given time.

My last class was the last night. It was a full length three hour class because it was, after all, a regular class, not the official exam period that accompanies the regular semester for two weeks after between the start of the next term. So, we wrote a short exam, with a total value of the total mark of only ten percent. Then we watched the last group’s presentation, probably the most stressful of all the groups because they will know last what their mark is over everyone else. With minutes to spare before 7:00pm we left the class, saying our goodbyes and wishing everyone a good break before the start of the next term. Summers are weird like that because everyone has summer time activities on their mind unlike the Season holidays of December and January. Most just want to get out, go home, and Sun Worship.

This morning I went on a cleaning rampage: A cleaning spree. With the majority of my major class assignments all bunched up towards the end of the term, the last four weeks had been neglectful ones for all the around the house stuff. Dusting, fridge rotation and laundry are the top big three. General cleaning will take about two days because of the dusting that needs to be done. I do have some yard work, but most of the yard-work has been done by the park owner–”yes” for the Tenant Agreement.

Last night I stayed up for while with some friends to watch the meteors showers. The showers were OK to watch for part of the night. Not as a specular as I hoped they would be, but there were some good bright ones with long tails that extended a quarter of the way across the sky. There was way too much smog/haze/pollution to take good photographs of them, and my video camera had a dead battery: my fault, I thought I had charged it…… Phooyee.

Oh, and I get some time to do some extra blogging! I have a lot of stuff I want to vent off here on my blog, so stay tuned.

Posted in Astronomy, General, Homework and deadlines | Comments Off

Loonie Lunar Lookers

February 20th, 2008 Thomasso

I don’t like to burst anyone’s bubble, but when I see people taking a point-and-shoot digital camera, turning on the flash, aiming it at the moon while it goes through the total lunar eclipse phase, well, it is kind of funny and sad at the same time. I did not spend that much time looking up at the blood red moon, I just took glimpses of it when it is was in totality, however; I spent more time look at all the flashes going off around the neighbourhood. I would like to see the photo that did turn out though?

I saw only one guy who seemed to know what he was doing. He had his digital SLR camera mounted on a telescope tripod with a clutch motor mount to compensate for the Earth’s rotation. He was doing both a time-laps and 2 to 20 seconds exposures with two different cameras. A far cry from the point-and-shoot cameras that everyone else was using. The telephoto lens would make or break the quality of the images as anything under 100mm would not capture the detail of the moon’s surface during totality.

It was great to see so many people standing outside in the cool weather, planted along the driveways and side walks, looking up at the moon. Events like this seem to make people pause and wonder, even makes the odd person weird…. But anyway, I notice a sense of enlightenment when people gather like this. I heard one fellow say that he wondered what people thought of way back in the “cave man” era when the moon turned red like this? In a couple of hours it was all over, and the neighbourhood returned to back normal.

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Carbon Tax: The Next Morning

February 20th, 2008 Thomasso

As I sit back after a good nights sleep from hearing the throne speech of the British Columbia Liberals’ Budget, it all starts to sink in as what will happen to BC’er’s once the “cow-pie” had fallen back down to Earth. At first I prepared for the worst–huge, unfair tax hikes that only benefited the wealthy and screw the poor, and a drastic change in life style that I have seen in some Hollywood flick. Well, none of that will happen from the numbers that I have seen in the budget. I believe that because of the small increase at the gas pumps, and the deduction on our Income tax, it all cancels everything out–and will inflate, or add to the cost of living between now and 2012 as a secondary effect.

I know from my place of work, due to the nature of our business, our reliance on vehicles will greatly be affect by the price hike at the pumps, so naturally this cost will be passed directly onto the consumer. Gas is already on its way up due to the another serge in oil prices, so it is only going to get worse over the next few months. Perhaps the $2.00 pre Litre days are very close, like in a few months? As for the tax rebates, well again, how will that be doled out? For those of us who use fossil fuels to heat our homes with I guess the only logical choice would be to go back to a wood burning system for our winter heat source because the rebait (note the spelling) will only pay for a wheelbarrow to haul the wood back to the house?

I just do not think that the government went far enough to develop a greener future for us all. Carbon taxes seem to soft and have little weight to a society that is willing to maintain its current reliance on fossil fuels. As money flows freely from continued stripping of natural resources and cheep sources of energy, people are still going to show their status symbols by driving SUVs and living in monster homes. In my opinion, government should regulate, restrict and limit general aspects of our material usage at a unilateral level–for everyone. For example, limit and restrict engines sizes in vehicles–say up to 80 Hp 2.5 litre max–no more SUVs! This will not only reduce carbon emissions, but high-speed accidents and street racing. Scale back and reduce what can be taken out of the ground that the resource based industry makes their billions of dollars from, in other words, place a cap. A limit on tree cutting and mining, in other words, only a set amount of trees can be harvested, and a set volume of oil pumped out of the ground on a annual time-table. Sure Banks and businesses are going to cry to blues, but if you want to reduce pollution you got to draw the line! Perhaps our economic system needs to be redrawn…. eh?

Just remember also that cow-pie contains carbon too!

[ADDED]

I almost forgot! Tonight is “Red Moon” night or Total Lunar Eclipse time as the Earth passes between the Sun and Moon. All this should take place well before sunset for us on the West Coast of North America, but the eclipse will start at 8:40pm Eastern. As the Sun sets, the moon will slowly turn red as the Earth’s shadow passes across the surface. Because of the size different between the Earth and the Moon, the Moon does not completely go dark because light will still spill across lunar surface, making the red blood colour. Don’t worry if you think you’ll miss it–the whole event will take over four hours from start to finish. So look East–you’ll get mooned! Ha!

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Today is Fall: Not Yesterday.

September 23rd, 2007 Thomasso

To my misinformed friends who thought fall started yesterday, I guess I can only say “I told you so….” Yes, the Autumnal Equinox took place today, early this morning around 2:51am Pacific, making today the last day of more Sun light than darkness. It is now time for the Northern hemisphere to blow off the cobwebs and take the old heavy duty quilt for the long, dark, cold, nights as we slip into winter.

I guess the confusion is from the normal times that the Spring Equinox and Winter Solstices take place, on the 21st of their respected months, but the Autumnal Equinox is normally on the 22nd of September, however, it is a day behind this year, really making it hard for people to remember. So, today is the day the day that the nights start to become longer. Yup, shoveling is just around the corner: unless we get an el nino winter?

So, happy fall everyone! I was getting tired of green anyways….. *sniff* *sniff* …but I hate the cold!

Posted in Astronomy, Bitching about weather | Comments Off

Shooting Stars in the Sky

August 10th, 2007 Thomasso

OK, I am asking the Weather Gods to open the sky, rid it of clouds for Saturday night anyways, so that I see the Perseid meteor shower which should be at the peak tomorrow. I have seen this meteor shower before, about three years ago, where I had estimated I seen up to two hundred meteors per hours then. The experts say we should see roughly one hundred in this one, but no one can really predict it.

I have the camera set up with the wide field, low powered 3.2inch reflector telescope for this event. I am going to try both video and stills as the shower moves through. I would love to post something that is half presentable….

[Update] Well, it is just me and the mosquitoes that are out, with me looking up at the sky while the mosquitoes try and have their feast. It is about 9:12 pm, twilight, and already I can see some small, faint streaks of light from the odd meteor hitting the atmosphere. So far I counted about 5 in the 15 minutes that I started observing, so that’s not bad so far. It is clearing up enough that I may take the camera out and start shooting….

[Update] I stayed outside looking up at the sky for another hour, till 11:30 pm, but the haze and clouds started to thicken up, so I called it quits and packed everything up.

The problem I have with the camera is that the telescope mount I made was good, but the vibrations from touching the scope lasted way too long before I could start shouting video. I need to look into using some stronger material for the mount, like aluminum or plastic, instead of wood. So, I did not shoot any streaking meteors, just some really good shots of vibrating haze instead.

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Bad Bug Gone & Spring Too!

June 20th, 2007 Thomasso

The Bad Flu Bug is definitely in regression after causing me four days of hardcore suffering. My lungs feel good after going through a none-stop brutal coughing and flem spewing attacks. I know it could of have being worse, and in the past, I have had worse, so I am grateful that I could battle the virus that attacked me with ease, but I wish I never had the damn bug in the first place. I finely went to work today, missing two days.

[ADDED] I found a good fact sheet about the pesky Flu Bugs and their cousins the Cold Viruses, and it is a good road map if you find yourself hit by these little bastards.  This artical summed up the details of my Flu Bug expereince this week to a tee, and gives me something to look forward to as I go through last stages of the invasion.

Tomorrow the Summer Solstice is tomorrow. According to Astronomy Magazine: ” [The] Summer Solstice occurs at 2:06pm EDT [11:06 PDT].” So, this is something to celebrate! It looks like the weather is going to be good for some late night sky observing, so I may take the scope out early in the morning before I head out for work and see some real “stars” instead of what is on the Television. So, clouds—you are not welcome.

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Astronomy news: Comet McNaught

January 12th, 2007 Thomasso

It has being a while since I seen a good shot of a bright comet, and I have being keeping an eye on this one for the last two days, now that we are getting super clear and cold weather. Also, a lot of news and television shows have being reporting this event too–so I though I would steer you all in the right direction if you want to see it. I know that is rather short notice because the event will take place in about 2 hours from the time I post this, but at least you can see the event and look in the right direction. As with most comets, they are not up high in the sky–most are towards the horizon. Here is what Astronomy Magazine says about today’s event:

To increase your chances of spotting the comet, start observing along the southwestern horizon 15 minutes after sunset. Use binoculars if you have them. If you spot a bright object, watch it as long as you can. The comet sets about an hour after sunset Monday and Tuesday, and sooner Wednesday through Friday. Don’t confuse the comet with Venus, which sets around 6 P.M. local time.

I’m going to try and get some photos of it. If it works, my camera, then I’ll post the photos here. Happy comet gazing!

UPDATE: I just got back in from standing outside at my favorite viewing spot, just outside of Fort Langley, for getting a glimpse of the comet. There are too many clouds along the horizon that made it difficult to get a clear shot for a photo; although I could see it, it was not clear enough to see the whole object in its entirety. There is always tomorrow!

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An Ode to a Season

September 22nd, 2006 Thomasso

Bon Voage summer! Soon the fall will be upon us (at the time of writing), and all that was hot and dry will be gone. In just a couple of hours, at 9:02 pm savings time tonight, summer will end and fall will start, as the autumnal equinox divides the day and night exactly in half. It is weird that it did not happen on the 21st, but as clocks and mathematics have their way, nothing is exactly the same anyways. To celebrate it, I will watch the Sun set, and say goodbye to 12 hours of day and welcome 12 hours of night. Perhaps our good fortunes will stay with us and we can rob the autumn season of just a few more days of summer!

Posted in Astronomy, General | 5 Comments »

Winter: Now the Days get Longer

December 21st, 2005 Thomasso

Winter has come upon us and as we sleep through the longest night we will be greeted with ever lengthening days from here on in until the cusp of Spring and Summer. Of all the days celebrated in the seasonal holidays for me this day is the most special. I plan my events around it and pay particular attention to it as it represents, as did the ancients, the rebirth the new year in terms of celestial events. So as you can see, if you read further on down, I plan my big events and mark changes on this day. I feel that in keeping with the rhythm of Solar System and the Earth, I can keep the rhythm of the things around me and use the ebbs and flow of these changes to my advantage. In 15 weeks the warm season will be here and along with it, hopes and promise of great things to come. So bring on Winter!
:kaffeee:

Family note

I got a new phone number on my mobile–please see email I sent out today. If you are not sure you have received it, then email from your address and I’ll update my address book and resend you the number.

More News

Today I gave notice to my employer of almost 11 years my resignation of employment. Best dam feeling I had in Ten years! My last day will be December 30th, 2005 and My new job should start around January 13th, 2006. I’m looking forward to my unemployment.

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and Seasons Greetings. May 2006 be the best year ever!

Posted in Astronomy, Bitching about work, Family, General, Holiday | Comments Off