AstroGypsies

January is gone, what a night to say farewell and move into February…We had a great group of local Estero Beach residents that showed up for some stunning views just after sunset and got to take away their own cell phone shots of this lovely orb. Is it not amazing what a small cell phone camera can capture, but I am spoiled with the views through Mike’s 18″ Dobsonian Starstructure telescope with it’s amazing Carl Zambuto mirror.

Conditions were favourable, which means: The atmosphere is in continual motion with changing temperatures, air currents, weather fronts and dust particles. These factors cause the star images to twinkle. If the stars are twinkling considerably we have “poor” seeing conditions and when the star images are steady we have “good” seeing conditions…which in turn gives us steady, non blurry views of the objects we are looking at, especially as we raise the magnification…geeky astronomer talk, so now you know what these guys are talking about in the dark;)

Usually I get Mike to put in the 21 mm Ethos eyepiece which allows me to capture the entire moon in one image, as the seeing conditions improve the magnification can be increased, last night we went to the 13 mm Ethos, then finally to the 8 mm Ethos eyepiece…absolutely stunning views of this beautiful moon.

So we will be out again tonight, if you are nearby please do not hesitate to stop in for an amazing view of our February moon;) Best part about showing people this view is the unsolicted comments, best from last night was “Holy shit! That is amazing!” attached please find a link to our good friend Attilla Danko’s Expletive Scale (Not suitable for kids) of astronomical observations.

Saludos amigos! Stay tuned for bird and sunset shots from this little piece of paradise here in Baja.