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** Inspired by the poem A Visit From St. Nicholas, written by Major Henry 
Livingston, Jr., and * updated for world not ending (whew) 
Twas the night after Solstice, and the world did not end, 
The doomsdayers are storing their bulk-wrapped ramen. 
The Mayan long calendar isn’t news anymore, 
But some nut jobs will still hype a killer meteor.  
Meanwhile, [...] 
 
 						
		
		 
		
IC 405 and AE Aurigae 
Stardate: Saturday November 14, 2009. 
Place:  Chuckwalla Bench Observing Site 
Equipment: 12.5-inch Litebox Reflector, f/5.75 Pierrre Schwaar mirror 
Sky conditions: Better than expected (clear, steady, good transparancy, but cold) 
Mojo and I try to head out to our favorite dark sky observing spot every new moon Saturday night. Usually several of our Old [...] 
 
 						
		
		 
		
ARIA Advanced Radar Instrument Aircraft 
Jane boarding the ARIA 
4 of the 6 IMCU team members in front of ARIA 
November 1999:  10 days, 40 flying hours, 65 researchers and Air Force personnel, five members of the press, seven Air Force bases (four US, two UK, one Azores), 6 amateur astronomers, three aircraft, 15,251 [...] 
 
 						
		
		 
		
Dorothea Klumpke 
As I prepare a blog down memory lane, recalling my own airborne observations of the 1999 Leonid Storm, I wanted to share the adventures of the first woman airborne Leonid pioneer, Dorothea Klumpke. 
Over one hundred years ago, American born astronomer Dorothea Klumpke flew through the Leonids in a balloon. She was the first [...] 
 
 						
		
		 
		
Hauling a telescope across the streets of San Francisco 
Jane-Orion plus Canis Major and Canis Minor 
Mojo demonstrating where to find Jupiter’s moons 
Getting some eye candy 
Sidewalk Astronomers have been setting up telescopes on Halloween as long as there have been sidewalk astronomers! 
When we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, we’d cross the [...] 
 
 						
		
		 
		
The ghoul on the moon 
NGC 246 the Skull Nebula 
IC 2118 Witch Head Nebula 
It’s time to get out the Milky Way and Mars candy bars, the Moon Pies and the Starburst chews. It’s Halloween! The moon — just past first quarter — will greet your trick or treaters this year. A first quarter [...] 
 
 						
		
		 
		
Observing report, dark sky weekend, October, 2009, Chuckwalla Bench 
A perfect night begins with Earth's shadow climbing in the east 
One one side of the green van is the Imaging zone 
On the other side of the green van is the visual observing zone 
When the clear sky chart reads perfect, we can’t wait to get [...] 
 
 						
		
		 
		
Wilfred Buck at NYAA Starfest 2009 
Ochek Atchakosuk – The Fisher Stars 
Atima Atchakosuk – the dog stars with Polaris, Mihkun Atchakos, the wolf star 
Matootisan – The Sweat Lodge 
Matootisan Assiniuk – Sweat Lodge Rocks 
Niska flying in the Summer Bird's Path (Milky Way) 
Atchakosuk are the spirit lights up above.  “All people [...] 
 
 						
		
		 
		
Rough sketch of LCROSS impact area 
finished sketch of Cabeus and environs 
E. A. Whitaker 1954 sketch  
Mojo and I started to setup his 14.5-inch f/4.8 Litebox reflector at 3:30 a.m. on LCROSS impact morning. There were marine layer clouds at that hour, but by the time we were set up it was clear [...] 
 
 						
		
		 
		
Look for the shuttle to the right of the contrail in my photo (click on the image for full res version) 
Shuttle and ground in one image. This photo and the rest of these photos courtesy of Gary Spiers 
Space shuttle Discovery 
Touchdown – twin dustplumes from gear touching down 
Parachute deploys 
NASADryden tweeted at [...] 
 
 						
	
	
		
			
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