here it is - the Full Moon near max size (11:35 PM, May 5, 2012)

Its been a busy week of planetary and solar system imaging/viewing. Earlier this week, the Crescent Moon made a close pass of first the planet Jupiter ('a bright star') low in the western sky. The following day (March 26), the Moon was in conjunction with Venus (the brightest 'star'). Hopefully, some of you had a chance to observe this spectacular series of conjunctions.

On Monday night, I imaged the crescent Moon, Venus, Mars and Saturn. It was a beautiful, warm spring evening and I hope you'll enjoy the images!

First, the ringed giant Saturn:



This was the last object I imaged, but the seeing was quite good.

Crescent Moon (left) and Venus (lower right)

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A lot has happened since my last picture post, both at Mars House and LJ land in general. My old college gf Sharon (who I haven't seen in over 25 years) came down from Springfield, VT for a visit during the last week of February. We went to the Atlanta Zoo (she used to be a zoo keeper for the Buffalo Zoo), some local parks and a weekend at the host hotel of AnachroCon 2012, where I was the science track director. She loved the alt history/steam punk theme and dressed as a 11th century Norse (Viking) woman. I was *supposed* to be an aging Viking Warrior - but couldn't get the ensemble together. So it was the return of the MAD Monk. *g*

OK, some pictures:

Mr. Blue Bird likes Southern Spring



A Few AnachroCon Pics

The awakenedwarrior, Sharon and a little friend.



Roman and Viking Era Armor

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Yeah, it was a fun and crazy weekend. :-)

Look arachnid 'hoes, here comes the Spider Pimp!

"Spider-pimp, Spider-pimp,
Does whatever a Pimp-man can.
Spins a web any size, Catches Johns just like flies.
Look out - here comes the Pimp'n Man"...



And my newest acquisition - a nice, plump Costa Rican Orange-mouth Tarantula. (Psalmopeus reduncus)

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She's only 4 years old and a relatively rare species to be found on the market. I got her by trading my newly molted male Orange Baboon Spider or "OBT" (for orange bitey thing) which the breeder (fellow spider pimp) needed.


Damn. Two posts in one day!

Lupercalia!

Valentines is for the boring/mundanes - give me the ancient festival Lupercalia. By the best part is the use of sacrificial raw skin thongs - the februa to whip the tender bottoms of eager young ladies. Sigh.. Those were the days...

Speaking of 'love' is the air - how about Venus?

This is a 'stretched' or false color image of the brilliant planet now visible in the SW sky after sunset. It is made by violet (W47), green and infrared filters instead of the more typical 'RGB" (red/green/blue).

Check out the phase of the planet: (a waning Gibbous)



In the telescope Venus looks like a small, intensely bright version of the Moon as it goes through the phases.

Spider Love!

Remember in my last post, about the need of getting the Chilean Rose hair Tarantulas - in particular Gomez laid? Well, he and the much larger "Mort" were paired up with mature females over the weekend. Little Gomez wasted little time - he hit it off with his lady and executed a flawless mating - and didn't even get eaten! In fact, he's gone back and done it again - and she didn't even chase him afterward.

OTOH, the giant "Mort" (measured at + 6 1/2", normal is 4.5 to 5) was paired up with a less than horny 'Amazon' sized female. It was more of a full scale wrestling match with huge fangs bared than a mating. The second attempt wasn't any better - so no dice with the angry giants. I'm afraid to have the randy little Gomez try - she'll almost certainly kill and eat him. :-/

But at least it looks likely that a few hundred little spider babies (spider lings or "slings") may be hatching later this spring.

Has it been that long?

Wow, nearly a month has pasted since my last post. It hasn't been totally uneventful, either - there was a storm that dumped rain in near epic proportions during MLK weekend, plus the usual (and unusual) goings on of a MAD scientist.



First, there has been the training of Eddie the Izzard, the half-grown bearded lizard acquired back in October 2011. Back then, he was about 7 inches long - now he's close to 15 inches and getting large enough for a leash/harness. Here is is watching a slide show of insects while learning how to play digital music...

Eddie the Izzard mastering bug ID and digital music..




The MLK Flood

Rain, rain go away! Or at least, get rid of all the damned clouds! The past month has been wetter and much cloudier than normal, culminating in a flood of semi-epic proportions. On the Saturday before MLK day, we had about 5 inches of rain - of which over 4 inches fell within two hours. The backyard become a swamp and the front a small river..

Looking out form the front door of the Man Cave to the neighbor's yard.



The neighbor's front yard - a recently acquired 'foreclosure' house.



Too bad they didn't drop by that day for remodeling - I think they would have been shocked.

Critters R US

Right now Mars House has a small zoo of pets and critters - including 2 cats (PC and Shadow Kitty), Eddie the Izzzard, a rosy boa, 9 tarantulas and 4 scorpions. This past week has been one of changes. I acquired two new and showy scorpions (pictures to come) at Repticon 2012. My big female emperor is very fat and pregnant, and there may be babies sometime this spring or early summer. OTOH, one the smallest tarantulas was found in a 'death curl' (a small Trinidad Chevron) a few days ago.

Both of our large male Chilean Rosehair Tarantulas have undergone their maturation or ultimate(final) molts and have made sperm webs. Males generally only live 6 months to 1.5 years after their final molt (females live much longer - up to 10 to 15 more years). The most showy - a 5-inch male called "Gomez" needs to get laid before he passes on.

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Doesn't he look all buff and ready to rock n' roll with a lady rosehair? Of course, she might kill and even eat him, but that's the risk a male tarantula is willing to make.


And finally, a picture of Mars! (It is after all - Mars House)

With a meme..

It's true, I don't post a whole lot anymore. But I still try to check out the posts on LJ at least several times a day. Why? Well, even though things aren't like they used to be, I still enjoy reading and keeping up with my friends on here.

So taking a hint from the ever awesome daughterofodhin, here's the meme:

Comment to this post and I'll tell you at least 1 thing I like (love) about you, and/or one reason why I'm glad we're friends. Copy and paste this if you're so inclined, to spread the goodness across LJ-land.

The doctor awaits your comments. :-)

Let the feats of strength and airing of grievances commence.

Happy Winter Solstice, Saturnalia and Sol Invictus Day!

I think of the three - Sol Invictus is my favorite. The 'unconquered Sun' was a popular coin/image motif in the late Roman Empire. The figure is remarkably 'Christ-like' in appearance - in fact, the early Christians will 'borrow' this image for later iconography.

I'm in a festive mood today - even though the weather is dismal and soggy. I'm in the process of sending out the last batch of holiday cards (yeah, some will be late - deal with it. *g*). This year I'm including a little SHINY surprise inside - thanks to my new Canon photo printer.

On Christmas Day, we will be cooking up a classic turkey dinner - instead of going out on the road. This is a RARE event - usually I'm invited to a number of places to feast, but this year we decided to stay put and feed our friends. :-)

Here's some shiny to look at while getting ready for the holiday weekend.

Holiday SHINY

Mighty Jove..



Jupiter is now plainly visible as an extremely bright star high in the eastern sky after sunset. In the southwest is the brilliant 'star' - Venus.

Return of Mars




Mars will return as a very bright reddish star in Leo this spring - watch for it.

The Rosette Nebula

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So, what kind of plans do you have for the holidays?

You have been warned..

Tonight the Krampus will visit those who have not been good, or in this case - NOT commented on all the beautiful SHINY posted by the doctor last week.

That's right, not a single comment. My 'love' for LJ over the past year has been falling faster than Bank of America stocks - and this didn't help. So, please comment once in awhile on the considerable efforts made to post the pretty SHINY..




Or have fun with these in your stocking..

(And/or losing the SHINY forever on LJ..)

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Grus,

Herr Krampus-doktor

Imaging in Frosty Cold

Like most of you, I ate a massive amount of holiday fixings. Instead of loading up on turkey, I hit the sides HARD - dressing, casseroles (broccoli & cheese), veggies plates - even baked mac' n' cheese. My turkey induced comma wasn't too bad, so after getting back from the feast I tried my hand at deep-sky imaging from my less-than-very-dark backyard. Some of the images turned out well, others were a bit borked.

First - pretty but borked.

The Ghost of the Crab Nebula



Depending on your monitor (better if the gamma is set high and/or in a darkened room) - check the 'ghost image'.

During the long image set (of 10 x 5 minute exposures), hoar frost must have formed on outer light pollution filter for the last few images. If you look close there is a ghostly, yet perfect reflected image of the Crab Nebula just above and to the left of the object. Nothing else 'ghosted' and this is one of my weirdest imaging malfunctions I've done to date. *g*

NGC 7814 - a 'perfect' edge-on galaxy

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Solar System Images..

I've been a bit slack in posting new shiny. I *do* have a nice selection though, and here are some images of our cosmic neighbors.

Here's a neat little snowball - Comet Garadd, imaged back on Oct 1, 2011





Mighty Jove has been spectacular..

October 26, 2011




And a view of the Great Red Spot.

Nov 12, 2011




Finally, though still very tiny - the Red Planet Mars is slowly making a comeback.




Have a nice day and a great weekend!

On November 9th, 2010 my close friend and observing buddy/stooge Keith "Larry" Burns, aka Kosmic Kow committed suicide. After several major searches CERT teams finally found his body in Lost Mountain park, Cobb County, Georgia.

Its been a year, but hardly a day goes by when I don't think about him. He loved nature and observing the universe so today's SHINY selection is dedicated to his memory.

NGC 6905 - a planetary nebula




NGC 1365 - a spectacular barred spiral galaxy in Fornax.



(8-inch f/4, Canon 1000D, 11 x 5 minute exposures)

NGC 7293 - the Helix Nebula

(HUGE SHINY behind the cut!)
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Spiders! Spiders!

Yes, today's SHINY will feature spiders. Most of the images are of my tarantulas plus one of the classic Southern Black Widow - which was found in the bathroom (!) off the master bedroom (where I stayed for the Peach State Star Gaze).

But first, something pretty..




Something 'tasty' for the spiders to eat!

And now, the SPIDERS!!!!

The Southern Black Widow

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I've always been interested in exotic animals - like arthropods (insects, spiders -etc) and reptiles as photographic subjects and also pets. Lately, I've acquired a 1/2 dozen tarantulas as pets - some as freebies, others via pet shop and online purchases. They are weird, alien-looking and exotic - even beautiful creatures and I was in the mood to acquire more with my birthday (October 6) stash.

Instead, of buying a Mexican Red Legged tarantula - I picked up a young (6 month) bearded dragon.

The New Bearded Lizard:



It was a cute and friendly little beast (actually, they all were) - that didn't mind being petted and being hand-held.

Very friendly, cute and not exactly cheap. Between the lizard, the 20-gallon terrarium plus all the other goodies (heat pad, special lamp -etc) they whole deal was over 200 dollars ( I had originally planned on 50 to 70 for a new spider).

Name the "Dragon"

I still don't know its sex - and won't until it gets bigger and more mature. Right now its about 8-inches long and its diet consists of veggies/fruit and assorted feeder critters (crickets, Dubia roaches). There is a short list of what NOT to feed and dietary supplements that need to be followed if I want a nice healthy 'dragon'. I've been told that by Spring 2012, it will be 15 to 20-inches long, and weigh up to 1.5 lbs. Already, PC the cat has a keen interest in watching the lizard - hopefully when full grown they will be tolerant - even friends.

But the Lizard does need a 'cool name'..

Poll #1786060 Name the Bearded Dragon!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 23

What name(s) do you like for the "Dragon"?

September was a busy and at times a roller coaster month - but at least its over. Its been awhile since the last post, but I've been out of town for most of last week star gazing and imaging. It was the return of the Peach State Star gaze and with it the dark, clear skies of rural Georgia. Of note - one of my images (of M45 - the Pleiades) was used as the star convention 'official' t-shirt (Yeah!), and my talk - Moon Madness! was extremely well received (double Yeah!).

For the most part the skies were clear and often quite crisp as a major cold front blew through near the end of the week. However, accompanying the brilliant, crispy-clear skies was lots of wind from the north - which wrecked havoc on imaging for two nights. Still, some of the SHINYs captured are quite pretty - even spectacular as you'll soon see.

PSSG SHINY Time!

First, here is a picture with both of my imaging rigs. I spent most of the time testing out the new telescopes (on the right) - a 6-inch f/9 AstroTech RC (white tube) and the smaller black 72mm AstroTech guidescope sitting 'piggyback'.




The Lagoon Nebula (bottom) and the Trifid (top right)





(Imaged by the 72mm f/6 scope, Canon XS)

The winds were whipping around pretty badly at times - from 8 to +18 mph, so I mainly used the small 72mm scope for most of the images. Most of the 'subs' were wrecked by the wind gusts, then the objects were being obscured by the tree line. But I had enough to combine to make the image.


The North American Nebula

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Sometimes *everything* works out well enough to produce a stunning result.

And yes, i've been told that this might be on next year's official 't-shirt'.

:-)

Imaging by 7-Zark-7..

After weeks of crappy to poor seeing, clouds and just plain bad luck, I *finally* got some superior images on par with the best imagers. The new camera - Flea II is very small, yet packs a considerable imaging punch. It took several attempts to master the not-all-that-intuitive software, but the results are impressive.

First, Here's an image of Mars, my first of the new imaging season:



Right now its a mere 4.8 arc seconds across - not much bigger than a decent view of the far more distant Uranus. Even at this diminutive scale, lots of detail is already visible including the (northern) polar cap.

Fun with Jove!

First an image of mighty Jupiter showing the Great Red Spot (GRS), and a transit of Io (shadow + disk).




Now check this out..

(enlarged to 110%)

Jupiter, the GRS and Io - 50 minutes later..



Can you spot Io? Its a yellowish disk about 1/4th of the way from the right limb. Check out the dark brown polar caps on Io. The moon is only 1.2 arc-seconds across - yet I'm clearly resolving detail with my 12-inch scope.

This image totally blows away *anything* done by the largest telescopes on Earth (using film) a mere 30 years ago (including the 200-inch at Palomar).

Got to love the incredible progress of the new imaging technology.

Awesome..

:-)

I spent most of the Labor Day weekend at Dragon*con. For the most part, I was kept pretty busy with panels in Space (4), Alt History (1) plus a +2 hour sky observing session on the Hilton's pool deck. As these events go, this one was pretty sedate and there no good tales of the MAD Monk to tell. But I do have some interesting pictures of costumes to share..


Attack of the 'Yip Yip" Aliens!



Bender on a bender..

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All of my panels went very well and according to a number of attendees the last one was .."the best one they have seen at this year's Space track".

Yeah, baby. :-)

To tinhuviel, canyoncat and anyone else having to make difficult decisions..

Something silly...



A face only a mother could love! (As tiny Bluet looks at my telephoto lens).

And something beautiful..



A Zebra butterfly takes a long drink from the damp ground near Sweetwater Creek.


Take care,

The Doctor

Imaged over the weekend..




A pretty 'busy' image dominated by the giant planet Jupiter. The satellite Ganymede is transiting across the upper part of the disk (south polar regions). To the far right, is the volcanic satellite Io.