A Special 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast

Please join me in enjoying this 365 Days of Astronomy podcast for January 26th, 2010, dedicated to my wife Linda and her peers at the DMNS Planetarium.

Share the wonder!

Planetarium for Palm OS

This is such a great tool, I am hanging on to my Palm Treo even though I've moved to using a Palm Pre simply because there isn't anything like it yet available for WebOS phones. See this review I submitted to Cloudy Nights for more information.

Clear Skies!

Trick or Treats, Sidewalk Astronomy and Candy

Well, it's been a busy year. Busier than I expected and I've not spent nearly as much time on astronomy. Tonight I did something about that.

Although the next full moon is a few days off, the view through our 60mm Parks refractor with a 26mm lens was still spectacular tonight. I set the scope up on the front yard just off our sidewalk. As kids came up to the porch yelling "trick or treat!", we'd pass out candy and then invite them to check out the moon through the scope. Some passed - usually the high school kids in large groups, too concerned about looking cool to listen to their inner kid and look through the scope - but most took a look, the response usually being "ooh", "ahh" or "that's awesome!". Many times parents came up from the street to take a look, too. Usually with the same response.

We always have a good time passing out candy on Halloween. Tonight was extra special, though. Usually we hear lots of "thanks", but there's nothing like listening to kids go running down the street yelling "Ma! I got to look at the moon!"

Clear skies!