Major Neglect

I feel like I am neglecting you blog.  I am spending so much time with my photo blog, and now I have been seduced away even more by blogging using my real identity (Clark Kent).  They actually added my blog on the home page of the department.  How can I turn my back on that blog now, old blog?  I... I think that you might want to get out a little bit more and maybe see other blogs too.  Maybe you should, you know, try your luck on some other blogs and see how it goes. Don't worry, I am not, like, abandoning you.  It's just, you know, I need some space.  I need to have a little freedom.  Hey, I have a great idea - let's be friends.  You know, we can hang out, be buds and all.  Maybe have some benefits (if you know what I mean).  But, you know, like be able to see other blogs too.  You know?

Not science, at work

While I listen to a fair bit of "modern" music (i.e., it has come out in the last 10 years), I occasionally find myself descending into an 80s trend.  I think that I am in one of those right now.  On Saturday, when I went on a bike ride, I was listening to 1984 by Van Halen.  "Hot For Teacher" has to be one of the best guitar songs ever.  I just listened to 90125 by Yes.  Now I am back to Van Halen.  On Friday I listened to The Police all day.  Don't worry, I will shake the 80s.  Maybe I'll whip out a little Genesis with Peter Gabriel (i.e., dip into the 70s) before returning to this century, though....

Science, at home

Today we put together our new telescope.  It can do 50x, which is pretty cool.  I also downloaded a sky map on my HTC Hero phone.  It is one of these apps that you can tilt the phone up and move it around and it will show you what you are looking at in the sky.  The app is really freaking cool.

Anyways, the app told us that Saturn was to the south east, so we tried to find it through the 50x zoom, which was quite hard.  You can take the doubler off the telescope, to make it 25x, which makes it much easier to find things.  I located a bright star in the field of view, then put the doubler back on.  After fiddling around for a while, Crab Girl saw rings!  I looked though and saw them too!  Then Crab Boy whacked the thing, and I had to readjust.  After that he saw Saturn's Rings too!  Crab Mama saw a blurred object, but wasn't really able to see rings.

I can appreciate how people would spend a fair bit of money on a nice telescope with a very nice tripod.  We have a $30 telescope and a $20 tripod.  Hard to see anything in focus.  But, it was UberCool!