update 2005-1-16: Way to go Huygens!! Yet another incredible accomplishment that makes me proud to count myself one of the human race.
Little noticed is the fact that the Mars Rovers have now done a year which is far longer than their original design life. They are driving around on SOLAR POWER.
If we would make the investments to switch to renewables here on earth, perhaps we wouldn't be in the mess we're in now.
If we can send vehicles to another planet, and repair them from millions of miles away, we can SOLVE our energy problems here. The energy crisis is not a technological problem, it is simply a matter of political will. If we had visionary leadership, who were willing to take on big infrastructure projects like the Panama Canal, the Grand Coolee Dam or the railways, we could get enough power from renewables to kick the petroleum addiction.
My brother and I went out "camping" for the November 2001 Leonids... we drove out to a very dark BLM/Park service area in Central Oregon, ignored the no-tent signs and hopped a little fence. We darn near froze to death out there, but the meteor shower was very much worth it.
A little after that, my Dad's wife gave us a 4.5" reflector telescope for our birthday. She did not like the fact that the tripod was difficult and that the ocean scenes moved backwards. This scope was good to look at planets and the moon, and enough to get me interested. A buddy gave me the Audoubon Field Guide to the Night Sky, which was very handy.
A group of us went up camping on Pine Mountain, near Bend, to visit the observatory there. Highly recommended. They open up some dome enclosed scopes, but the best thing is that amatuers show up with their own scopes, and give tours of the sky, along with good running commentary. Many of these guys can get around the stars like you'd drive to work. (it took me 3 hours to find M57 on my own.) Yes, you can make it up in your non-4x4 car.. I made it up in a 2002 Prius with no ill effects. Just go slow on the washboarding. Check out Pine Mountain Observatory for information and schedule.
I finally built a telescope. 8" mirror, f/6, parts from Sky Instruments. "First light" was Saturday, August 9, 2003. The stability of the Dobsonian mount compared to a tripod is great, and I love just being able to point at things w/o hassle.
Optical gain from from the 8" vs 4.5" is about 4x, and optical
quality
is far above what
I had, although I haven't yet got the star test to work quite right. (I
think
it was because the tube was shiny inside..)
But sky view (stars, planets, nebulae, galaxys, etc) is very nice, and
there's no vibration fuzzies. The moon was blinding at full
aperture. I cut it down to about 2" effective with a holesawed
board.
By the way, spend the money on a Telrad or other reflex finder.
I based the telescope design on the
plans for the 10" Dobsonian design in Richard Berry's
Build
Your Own Telescope
At opposition Mars will be as close as it has been since September 12, 57,537 B.C. or one-third closer than the average opposition. The next approach this close is August 28, 2287 A.D at 34,620,000 miles.