Hi everyone, Tina here. I was sitting outside the last few nights and I can pick out a few of the extreme basics, but is there a book or something out there anyone recomends pointing out or explaining stuff about star constelations? Rusty explained a few things at the last GTG but Captain Morgan was interrupting me.

maybe the local library has something like "stargazing for dummies" (not an insult but they got just about everything on that dummies series of books, usually in a yellow wrapper).

The book I got started with (in the '50s) was H. A. Rey's (of Curious George fame) The Stars: A New Way to See Them.

One very popular current book is Turn Left at Orion. Slightly advanced are NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe and The Backyard Astronomer's Guide.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
The book I got started with (in the '50s) was H. A. Rey's (of Curious George fame) The Stars: A New Way to See Them.

I bought this book on Rusty's rec, and it has been great. Rusty also recommended a circular sky chart that is larger and whiter than most. Very easy to use outdoors at night. I use a dim headlamp with red film over it to read the chart.

I still use Rey's constellation diagrams to get oriented; they're just too logical and simple to flush from memory.

It's that time again, folks.

If you do just one sky night a year, this is a good one.

Perseid Meteor Shower Unleashes Bright Fireball

From: Tariq Malik SPACE.com Managing Editor

The Perseid meteor shower is peaking this week and announced its annual August arrival with a bright fireball over Alabama, NASA officials say.

A small 1-inch (2.5-cm) wide meteor caused the fireball when it met a fiery demise Aug. 3 while streaking through Earth's atmosphere, according to officials at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The fireball was observed by skywatching cameras operated by the space center. [Perseid meteor shower fireball photo.]

"It's a very good start to this year's Perseid meteor shower, which will peak on the night of Aug. 12-13 between midnight and dawn," explained NASA spokesperson Janet Anderson in a statement from the space center.

The fireball occurred at about 9:56 p.m. local time and was low in the sky when it entered Earth's atmosphere about 70 miles (112.6 km) above the town of Paint Rock. It appeared about 9.5 degrees above the horizon. For comparison, your fist held at arm's length is equal to roughly 10 degrees of the night sky.

NASA observations found the meteor to be hurtling through the atmosphere at a phenomenal 134,000 mph (215,652 kph).

"At such a tremendous velocity, the meteor cut a path some 65 miles [104.6 km] long, finally burning up 56 miles [90 km] above Macay Lake, just northeast of the town of Warrior," Anderson wrote. "The meteor was about six times brighter than the planet Venus and would be classified as a fireball by meteor scientists."

Because of its relatively low approach in the sky and its long, shallow path, the meteor qualified as a so-calledEarth-grazing meteor, NASA officials said. Earth-grazing meteors are space rocks that enter the Earth's atmosphere at a low angle, from the point of view of a given skywatcher, and appear to scoot slowly and dramatically along the horizon.

The Perseid meteor shower is an annual event that occurs in mid-August when Earth passes close to the orbit of the Comet Swift-Tuttle.

Material left behind by the comet rams into the Earth's atmosphere during the pass at about 37 miles per second (60 km/second), creating a regular show of "shooting stars" that has become known as the Perseid meteor shower. Comet Swift-Tuttle was discovered in 1862 and most recently observed in 1992. It takes about 130 years to orbit the sun.

(This SPACE.com Perseid meteor shower viewing guide shows how to observe the event. This sky mapshows where to look to see the meteor shower.)

SPACE.com skywatching columnist Joe Rao has said the 2010 Perseid meteor shower promises to be one to remember for skywatchers with clear skies. Under good conditions, skywatchers could see about one meteor per minute depending on observing conditions, he said in a recent column.

"The August Perseids are among the strongest of the readily observed annual meteor showers, and at maximum activity nominally yields 90 to 100 meteors per hour," Rao explained. "Anyone in a city or near bright suburban lights will see far fewer."

· Galleries: http://www.space.com/php/multi...p?imgid=3534&gid=260

Meteor Shower Viewer's Guide: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/meteor_forecast.html

Top 10 Perseid Facts: http://www.space.com/scienceas...0_perseidsfacts.html

Original Story: http://www.space.com/spacewatc...fireball-100809.html

Wow,.. great! Thanks so much and I will get started.

quote:

Originally posted by Marvin+Doris:
maybe the local library has something like "stargazing for dummies" (not an insult but they got just about everything on that dummies series of books, usually in a yellow wrapper).

quote:

Originally posted by Kris & Tina Jones:
is there a book or something out there anyone recomends pointing out or explaining stuff about star constelations?

I just ran across an old astronomy text while cleaning up, and thought it might be interesting to someone here:

http://www.amazon.com/Astronom...id=1286216501&sr=8-1

It is available for a penny (used) on Amazon, and is well worth it. It is more of a textbook, intended for college freshmen taking Astronomy 101 than a viewer's guide, but it offers a basic understanding of what's out there and why. I would not recommend it as a substitute for Rey's book recommended by Rusty, but as a supplement. Something else to read, perhaps just a chapter at at time. I would like to have had it when I was taking astronomy in college.

I think I'll keep it in the Barth, as that is the only time we can see stars, thanks to the ocean fog and the lights of El Lay.

BTW, we are buying property in AZ in a narrow valley between two 6000 ft mountain ranges. Not much for or much light from anywhere, so the stars are magnificent at night. Gonna do more star watching if we ever get there.

Bill H: Will this move qualify you and Susan as mountain folk or hillbillies???.............

quote:

Originally posted by carlflack:
Bill H: Will this move qualify you and Susan as mountain folk or hillbillies???.............

I would think neither... But, Susan might be considered a "Valley Girl"

He might be located within an established human or drug corridor. How would one check something like that out beforehand?

quote:

Originally posted by bill h:
BTW, we are buying property in AZ in a narrow valley between two 6000 ft mountain ranges.

quote:

Originally posted by carlflack:
Bill H: Will this move qualify you and Susan as mountain folk or hillbillies???.............

rural.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:

He might be located within an established human or drug corridor. How would one check something like that out beforehand?

It's on a dirt road that becomes a jeep trail down through an almost gone ghost town and then on to nowhere.

quote:

Originally posted by bill h:
It's on a dirt road that becomes a jeep trail to nowhere.

Good luck on your purchase Bill. I hope you and Susan enjoy the change in scenery. How is internet and cell phone reception out there? Is it just property or is there a house on it?

quote:

Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:

quote:

Originally posted by bill h:
It's on a dirt road that becomes a jeep trail to nowhere.

Good luck on your purchase Bill. I hope you and Susan enjoy the change in scenery. How is internet and cell phone reception out there?

Non existent. I did not erect the yagi on the mast, though. I may have to buy an amplifier.

quote:

Is it just property or is there a house on it?

Nothing there but rattlers and the biggest, most beautiful prickly pear patch you ever saw. Most of them were fruited. And loose horses and cattle. A nearby rancher lets them wander aroundbi.

quote:

Originally posted by bill h:
It's on a dirt road that becomes a jeep trail to nowhere.

Congratulations! I know you and Susan have been looking around and mulling this over for quite a while. You once told me you were thinking about the area around Congress? I think that area is awesome.
Don

quote:

Originally posted by Don in Niagara:
You once told me you were thinking about the area around Congress? I think that area is awesome.
Don

We originally started out looking in Wickenburg, then decided we wanted more of the Arizona outback experience, and looked farther north to Congress. We decided Congress was too flat, and there are water issues, etc. One parcel up in the foothills was nice, but no electricity nearby and it was too near a dairy and a large mine. Trust me, you don't want to be anywhere near a stamp mill.

So, we kept Barthing farther north and found the land we are buying. It is surrounded by unspoiled thick scrub desert. Much more vegetation than around Q. The area gets more rain and the water table is very high. Most of the stickerbushes are too close together to walk between, for example. You need chaps or Carhartt pants just to walk around. Levis don't do it. Right on the edge of the Prescott NF on the east, with a mile of State Trust Land between us and the NF. To the north is a mile of State Trust Land, then some scrub pasture, then the NF again. To the west, more state land to the NW, and directly west, across the road is the Hassayampa river flood plain. It is also pasture land, for cattle that can browse on the thorn bushes, anyway. South is more pasture land that is almost too rough and washy for building, so probably no neighbors at all. The owner might put up a cabin for his hunting trips, though.

So, we are essentially in the high desert that we love and in-between the mountains we love. Still reasonably close to the Colorado River for boating and the Eastern Sierra we love. However, we might end up liking the AZ mountains better.

The hunting is better, and I seem to be a lousy fisherman no matter where we go, so that's a wash. We will be 12 miles off the highway, and just over an hour from Prescott and 2:45 from either Phoenix or Quartzsite. Nearest gas station is just under an hour away (if they open that day), and the first gas station in Prescott is just over an hour if you take the snake trail (89) into town. A little longer on the good road. So, fuel management and storage will be an issue. I still have a whole bunch of jerry cans from my desert racing days, but I may end up with a big tank like a farmer or rancher.

Living out there isolated will be nice, but we will have some adjusting to do.