One of my favorite Hubble photos is the Pillars of Creation, which shows three large columns of dust and gas which is in the process of creating new stars. These lie in the heart of M16, the Eagle Nebula, which is a fairly bright emission nebula in the constellation Serpens. Last Sunday night the skies were… Read More »
By some lucky coincidence, the skies have been clear for two nights in a row since my new telescope arrived. As it got to dusk I set up my mount, scope and laptop on the deck knowing I’d be able to see Polaris and Bode’s galaxy from there. Seeing as this was my first time… Read More »
Now that I have a motorized GoTo mount I need a way to have power when I’m out of reach of power cords. There’s power packs sold for telescopes, but they are pretty high priced for what you get, plus the long term reliability is questionable based on online reviews. Many stores sell power packs… Read More »
While I’ve been having a lot of fun with the dobsonian telescope I built, you really need an equatorial mount with tracking for astrophotography. I spent a lot of time over the last month or so trying to decide exactly which scope and mount I wanted. I finally got an Explore Scientific ED-80 Triplet APO… Read More »
Another risotto recipe – this one we found online. Tastes amazing! Ingredients: 6 cups chicken broth (divided) 3 tbsp olive oil (divided) 1 pound portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced 1 pound white mushrooms, thinly sliced 2 shallots, diced 1-1/2 cups arborio rice 1/2 cup dry white wine 3 tbsp finely chopped chives 4 tbsp butter 1/3… Read More »
On May 9th Mercury made a transit across the Sun, meaning it passed between the Sun and the Earth. This only happens about 13 times a century, with the next transit on November 11th, 2019. Typically this takes several hours and we were fortunate to have clear skies for the first few hours. Mercury is… Read More »
This has become our favorite way to make steak and making it couldn’t be simpler. I’ve even made this camping on a little smokey grill and some friends said it was one of the best steaks they’ve ever had. Ingredients: 1/3 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup olive oil 1/3 cup lemon juice 1/4 cup Worcestershire… Read More »
These chicken sandwiches are another family favorite of ours. It has a lot of strong flavors, yet somehow it’s not overwhelming when all together. Ingredients: Whole wheat hamburger buns Chicken breasts Buffalo wing sauce Pepperjack cheese slices Jalapenos – fresh, sliced thin Fresh cilantro – whole leaves, smaller stems ok Directions: Make homemade buffalo wing… Read More »
I haven’t found a good Buffalo Wing Sauce in the stores but this recipe makes an excellent sauce. We use it all the time with the Buffalo – Cilantro Chicken Sandwich recipe. Ingredients: 1 cup Frank’s cayenne pepper sauce 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2… Read More »
I spent a fair amount of time in January learning everything I could about astronomy and building my barn door tracker to try my hand at some basic astrophotography. By mid-February I realized that I wanted a telescope in time for the Messier Marathon in early April. I discovered that amateur astronomers had been building… Read More »