Coming soon.....

A new and improved Astro Rails is in the works.  Stay Tuned!

Friday night in the yard

The weather around here finally cleared out, producing a nice sunny day.  Also, since we probably (knock on wood) past the last frost of the season, it was time to plant in the Garden.  Assorted Cosmos, Zinnias, Tigrida?,and other seeds and bulbs went in the ground today.  I should know in a couple of weeks if anything sprouts up.


After that was done, it was time to take the dog out.  We had impecabble timing, because as I looked up, I saw the Space Shuttle Atlantis glide overhead.  Atlantis was launched on what is likely it's final mission.  After this trip to the International Space Station, it will be readied for a possible resuce mission in support of the final shuttle launch later this winter.

A rainy day

This week we've had weather in the Twin Cities that isn't particularly conducive to anything other than staying inside and hiding out.  

This is particularly frustrating as this week is the week of the new moon.  For the backyard astronomy hobby, this is important as it easier to view deep sky object such as star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies without the glare of the full moon.   


With the moon about to go on the rebound, the old adage holds true.  If everything else is washed out by the moon, view the moon.  In a couple of days, you will be able to view the young crescent moon in the western sky roughly 45 minutes after sunset.   Take note of the fact that even though the moon is just entering the waxing crescent phase, you can still make out the entire 'disk' of the moon.  More on this later.

First night out in a while.....

I took a telescope out tonight for the first time since the summer. It was more to dust off the cobwebs than to do any hard core observing. It was also fodder for a new blog I want to create about touring the night sky with a small telescope. Unfortunately the full moon played havoc with any viewing.

Comet Lulin

So the internet is abuzz with this Comet Lulin. I wanted to catch it on the 23rd when it was closest to the Earth. A cold and some clouds nixed that idea. Last night tho I had the dogs outside, and saw that I had a clear view to the Southeast.

I pulled out my ST80 and very gingerly shuffled my way down the driveway trying not to slip/fall/drop the scope. I set it up behind a large evergreen bush that somewhat shielded me from my neighbors resurrected yard light. I had looked up on Stellarium where the comet should be. I pointed the red dot finder at roughly where it should have been and started looking. I lucked out pretty quick, finding a small gray smudge. I nudged the scope a little bit to make sure it was a smudge in the sky, and not on my eyepiece. The comet looked similar to a globular cluster, or a roundish nebula, only a bit brighter.

I wasn't 100% sure I had gotten it until I got back inside and confirmed on Stellarium that there were no other faint fuzzies in that area of the sky. All in all it was a pretty good quick trip out. Having put a red dot finder on the ST80 makes it a lot easier to use, as you can then put a low power eyepiece in and then use the scope as your optical finder. I can hardly wait to try this new set up under darker skies!

POTD 02/25/09

A picture from a camping trip last summer up to Bobi's parents farm...

Back at it.....

So I was thinking that I hadn't posted here in a while, and I was right! Of course, lately I've been doing way more TV watching than anything else, and that's not very bloggable But in between assorted TV shows, I've done a few things that may be fodder for new posts around here including:

• A new red dot finder for my ST80 refractor scope
• Traded in my Digitrax DCC system for a new NCE Powercab!
• Scoped out a new Railfanning spot

Tonight's other project is to come up with plans for Benchwork for the layout plan below. I hope to have a scan of this on Monday...

Self Esteem Boost For This Blog!

There was a list on msn.com about the 11 lames blogs out there, and mine wasn't on the list! Woo Hoo!!!!! I better get a better track plan up before they come around and do this list again!

Lamest Blogs

Track Plan

I finally got a track plan scanned into the computer! Click on it to get the supersized view.
Apparently the scanner picked up some more stuff than I thought though. (smudge marks, etc.)

It also has some of my preliminary town names...

Model Railroad Plan 2

I've let the track plan simmer for a couple of weeks here to see if I still like it, and so far so good. The other thought that I had simmering was where the layout should be based. I knew it would be somewhere here in the midwest to ease construction. I know the area is not exactly plywood flat, but with a few creative cuts in the foam here and a few small hill's there, I could create the illusion of rolling terrain without having to try and make actual hills for the trains to go up and over.

I also know that I would like to have my main line be for the CB&Q and or BN/BNSF. I also wanted to interchange with the Chicago Northwestern/descendants and the Santa Fe. I would also like a short line interchange.

My candidates for locations are as follows:

Saginaw Texas
Galesburg IL
Minneapolis to Omaha line

I'll go over the pros and cons on following posts. Stay Tuned!!