- GregL's Blog - Tehachapi News

Andromeda Galaxy

Here's a pic of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), with galaxy M32 on the upper left tonight. It wasn't the best of observing conditions unfortunately, a little hazy and not as dark as I had hoped. Besides, it was 25 deg outside and that makes everything difficult, alignment, focusing, etc. Although, hot chocolate with rum makes things a little easier! LOL! Maybe some day I'll build my own little observatory building.

Telescope: 8", f/4.9 Newtonian Reflector, on a Sirius EQ-G mount driven by Starry Night Pro

Camera: DSLR-A700, prime focus method, ISO 200, 4 min exposure.

The night sky - 12/1/2008

Here is the event that took place Monday night. Unfortunately I wasn't in BVS, this is from Stevenson Ranch, but not bad none the less. No telescope this time, my DSLR A700, a 70-210 f/2.8 zoom lens at 70mm, f/5, 10sec (the image is cropped). Venus is the brightest dot below the Moon, and Jupiter is to the right of and above Venus. If you look closely at this picture you can see Jupiter's moons stretching out to the upper left and lower right of it, although a little hard to see in the small blog image. The 10 second exposure also reveals the tracks of the stars, and I got a bonus airplane too!

The night sky - 11/29

Here's what I saw in the sky tonight.

The first picture is Jupiter, with Venus below, and the Moon waxing crescent. DSLR A700 digital body, 35mm lens, f/18, 5sec.

The second picture is the Pegasus Cluster. DSLR A700 digital body on a 203mm f/4.9 Reflector telescope, prime focus method, 120sec.

The third picture is the double star Enif. DSLR A700 digital body on a 203mm f/4.9 Reflector telescope, prime focus method, 120sec.

Where's Sam?

Has anyone seen or heard from Sam Heath lately? He hasn't blogged or even signed in for an uncharacteristically long time, and his Weedpatch Gazette hasn't been updated lately either. I sent him an email the other day asking if he was all right and I've had no response, which is also unusual. I think he lives alone, so I hope nothing has happened. Hopefully he's on vacation somewhere, I just don't know. If I had a phone number or knew where he lived I'd run out to check up on him, I'm a little concerned.

Moonrise tonight

Here is the moonrise this evening at 7:55pm in Bear Valley. The moon is waning gibbous at 18 days old in it's cycle. Shot with a Sony A700, 200mm zoom lens with a 2x teleconverter, F5.6, 1/160th.

Coast Starlight to Seattle

Here are a few pictures, along with a link to the full gallery, of our recent trip from L.A. to Seattle on the Coast Starlight. It is such a great trip with beautiful scenery along the way, and I LOVE traveling by train! The coast is always gorgeous, and there is plenty of snow in the mountain pass.

http://www.gregloskorn.com/trainsfldr/coast_starlight_2008/index.html

Some misc pictures

I'm stuck at work tonight and things are slow, so I thought I'd add some various pictures for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Hike in the Sequoia's

My wife and I went on a special hike with Valerie Cassity of the Sequoia ForestKeeper organization the other day. We were lucky enough to win this private hike at their event at Mama Hillybeans.

The Sequoia's are so incredibly majestic that my words simply cannot describe them, which is why I take pictures I guess. To walk through a forest and realize that some of the trees you are looking at are thousands of years old is very special! I don't recall seeing a large Sequoia that wasn't fire scarred. They have lived through many generations of people, and even civilizations! Almost anywhere you look, you can see every stage of birth, life, and death of those trees spanning thousands of years.

I haven't been to the Sequoia's since I was a kid, and my folks were there before my time in the early 60's. They have some great pics that I'll post in another blog after I get them scanned in. In the mean time, here is a link to the pictures from our recent hike.

Sequoia ForestKeeper hike gallery

Enjoy!

What happened in BVS tonight?

I watched a helicopter land at the fire station in BVS this evening (Monday), then watched an emergency vehicle with lights flashing descend the hill from the Jacaranda or El Rancho vicinity. Then about 20 minutes passed before the helicopter lifted off and headed out towards Bakersfield at about 8:40pm. Someone was in bad shape I'm guessing.

AeroGarden veggies

The AeroGarden is a hydroponic garden for vegetables, herbs and spices, and lettuce that grows right in your kitchen without soil. It's water based (hydroponic) and uses nutrient tablets every few weeks. They are totally awesome! These pictures are from the second planting of each of our gardens. The one on the left is baby arugula lettuce that still needs a week or two before harvest, and the right one is herbs including basil, mint, chives, thyme, parsely. Eveything is so incredibly fresh and vibrant, the basil is out of this world! At meal time, snip off a leaf, tear it up over your salad or main dish and man oh man!

Here is the website for the AeroGarden: http://www.aerogrow.com/