KnightStar

Software Tuning for fun

2012-01-14T19:49:00.003-06:00

If you asked me 15 years ago what my primary programming language was, I would have answered “c”. But it is very hard to produce a gui app in c, and shortly there after I started using Delphi. Delphi with a add on MySQL Database Library called MySQLDAC makes a powerful environement allowing the quick development of useful database applications.

As I became more and more interested in Linux (I have always liked obscure OS's since I used to use OS/2), I became aware of a Delphi for Linux (and other OS's) called Lazarus.

In reality it is two products in one, the front end app is indeed called Lazarus and is a GUI Application Development Environment very similar to Delphi, but behind it sits Free Pascal. Free Pascal is a Object Pascal compiler that is almost identical to the Object Pascal that Borland came up with all those years ago. So in effect you write your app in Lazarus and then Lazarus hands it over to Free Pascal to acually compile it.

So if you want to write a GUI App, you can use Lazarus and if you want to create a non GUI App, such as something you can use in a Cron App (Cron runs tasks in the background in Unix enviroments), it can be written in straight Pascal. It is easier to write then c and everything seems wonderful in the world.

Now my primary Desktop is a HP with a AMD 64 bit Quad Processor. More specifically it is a Phenom 9150e. And at the time I had a Dual Core Pentium (32 bit) cpu which I used for traveling and when I am otherwise away from home. I found a copy of the Dhrystone benchmark written in Pascal and on a lark ran it on the laptop and then later for comparison purposes on the desktop. The laptop blew the desktop away. How was this possible, the desktop had a 64 bit cpu while the laptop was running an older 32 bit cpu.

Well, AMD Processors have their own instruction sets that is similar to the intel instruction set but NOT the same. If an AMD processor sees an Intel instruction it runs it in a interpeted mode, which gives correct results but runs much slower. Well the Free Pascal Compiler seems to generate only Intel instructions and there is very little tuning that can be done. There were a couple of recommendations given on the Lazarus Forum, but it made virtually no difference.

I then found the Dhrystone Benchmark written I c, compiled and ran it on both machines and the run times were much as I would have expected, with it running much faster on the desktop.

In truth with the speed of modern computers you really aren't going to notice the slowdown that much unless you throw a lot of data at it. The moral of this part of the story is if want to run Free Pascal and want it to run fast, get an Intel Processor. To be fair to Lazarus and Free Pascal, they are a very small project that is only supported by hobbyists alone.

A few weeks ago I decided to have a little refresher course in c, so I wrote some programs that created some large MySQL tables and then did some crunching with them. MySQL was actually doing most of the work, but the c programs were issuing the queries to be ran. Well you can tune c programs written using the gcc compiler a lot better then Free Pascal. But gcc, is supported by large corporations (like IBM and HP) and has a lot more money to work with.

On the desktop I tried compiling it three different ways:

No tuning: gcc Program.c -o Program `mysql_config --cflags –libs`
Using mtune switch: gcc -mtune=athlon64 Program.c -o Program `mysql_config --cflags –libs`
Using the march switch: gcc -march=native Program.c -o Program `mysql_config --cflags –libs`

I ran the programs multiple timmes giving me a average runtime:

	No Tuning	mtune=athlon64	march=native
Wall Time	6.2 seconds	6.19 seconds	6.22 seconds
User App time	0.75 seconds	0.75 seconds	0.77 seconds

The gcc web site recommends using “-march=native” which in this case gave the worst performance, but not by much. I did just as well by not tuning at all!!! For the record, wall time is the actual runtime as seen on a clock. I got these results by running the script using the Unix time command.

But, I have since upgraded my laptop to a Intel i5 cpu and the results are a little different.

	No Tuning	mtune=native	march=native
Wall Time	5.68 seconds	4.78 seconds	4.62 seconds
User App time	1.08 seconds	0.75 seconds	0.74 seconds

So in this case, tuning seems to have helped. In both of these tables most of the wall times appears to be spent waiting on the MySQL Server to finish running the queries.

Haimann

2011-12-16T10:45:00.001-06:00

HAIMANN is a very rare last name

Very few last names in the US are HAIMANN

Be proud of your unique last name!

source: namestatistics.com

Chess Beginners avoid the QGA

2011-07-11T13:01:00.014-05:00

Really, beginners shouldn't play Queens Gambit Accepted.

1. d4 d5
2. c4

The c4 pawn looks free, but it really isn't. Once black gets the pawn it is very hard to hold on to it. Usually white responds with a quick e4, which not only puts a discovered attack on the black pawn (from the light squared Bishop) but also gets control of the Center. White has more then gotten compensation for that pawn. I'm not saying QGA isn't playable from blacks side. It is, but it usually takes a somewhat seasoned player.

I can and have had a lot of fun when a unseasoned player takes my pawn. The games I get like this can be a lot of fun for me, but they must be a little humiliating from blacks perspective.

I played a recent game on FICS where my opponent accepted the gambit.

1. d4 d5
2. c4 dc (short hand for d5 x c4)
3. e4 e5

Black would really love white to de (d4 x e5). Then black could exchange Queens and after white takes back with his King (he has no choice at that point,) white can no longer castle. After that black looks forward to at least an equal game, if not better.

4. Nf3 Bb4+
5. Nbd2 (That is Knight on b to d2)
Bxd2
6. Qxd2
Studies indicate that unless there is additional compensation a Bishop for a Knight is a bad exchange. A mathematical analysis says that Knights are worth 3 points, but a Bishop is really worth 3.5.
6. ed
7. Bxc4 Nf6

8. e5 Ne4
9. Qxd4 Qxd4
10. Nxd4 o-o
11. o-o c5
12. Nf3 Nd7
13. Re1

Well now, black is now down a whole pawn and where does that Knight think he is going. In truth did I plan this, uh, no. This was speed chess (time control was 2 minutes to start and 12 seconds added to your clock for each move you make) and all I was doing was making natural moves and not thinking about it very hard. And now black was going to be a whole minor piece down. I refuse to play slow chess on FICS, there is too much cheating.

13. Nxf2
14. Kxf2 Re8
15. e6 fe
16. Bxe6+ Kf8
17. Bf7

I realized right after making this move, that I had created a Check-Mate threat (Bd6.) Blacks best move here is g6, but even with best play black will be on the defensive for the rest of the game.

17. Nf6
18. Bd6+

Black now has to block the Bishop with the only piece available, the Rook. If I had his position, I would resign. All I have to do now is get light squared Bishop out of the way and I will win the Rook outright.

18. Re7
19. Bxc8 Bxd7
20. Bxe7+ Kxe7
21. Bxf6

There was no point in not trading down, my opponent was down a Rook and a Knight. The game went on for a few more moves but after I went after his pawns he gave up.

The most important point here is that control of the center is worth more then a pawn. Don't take that pawn unless you can create tactical complications elsewhere. I recommend looking at something like the Tarrasch or the Slav Openings instead. Some older games of mine that further demonstrate this point are here.

I have a copy of ChessBase which is a few years old. I ran a report on this opening and this is statistics for strong players using these lines:

Black Scores below average (42%).
Black performs Elo 2239 against an opposition of Elo 2295 (-56%).
White performs Elo 2338 against an opposition of Elo 2282 (+56%).
White wins: 9640 (=41%), Draws: 8034(+34%), Black wins: 5913 (+25%).
The drawing quote is Average. (9% quick draws, < 20 moves).

White wins are shorter then average (37).
Black wins are of average (40).
Draws are shorter than average(32).

So, even Masters don't do that well as black with this line.

Northern Flicker

2009-01-21T18:32:00.003-06:00

I accepted another position from my employer last June. The hours are better and I can pretty much set my own schedule, but the work site is on the other side of town and the walking situation isn't nearly as good. I have two choices now as to where to walk.

Brown's Woods, is a dense wooded area on the border between Des Moines and West Des Moines. There is a lot of wildlife there, but due to denseness of the woods the wildlife can be hard to see. You hear a lot of animals, but see very little. The trails there are also fairly primitive and they make no attempt to clear them. So, after we got a thick layer of ice there last December, I gave up. I might giver it another try in February after a good thaw.

My other choice is the Great Western Trail which runs through Des Moines. The area that I walk there is just south of the Des Moines Water Works which goes through the Des Moines Water Works. I normally turn around in the Water Works. I see a lot of geese during the summer and an occasional Blue Heron. Rose Breasted Grosbeaks are also common, but it is harder to get an image of them there. It is actully more road then trail, but I take what I can get This time of year I rarely see any wildlife.

Today I got lucky though and saw a Northern Flicker, it is the Yellow Shafted variant. It was so busy eating some berries, I was able to get about a half dozen images of which the following was the best.

More Chess

2009-01-08T19:14:00.004-06:00

1. d4 (0:00) d5 (0:00)

He opened with d4 and I am going to go into the Tarrasch.

2. e3 (0:02) e6 (0:01)
3. Bd3 (0:03) c5 (0:01)
4. c3 (0:02) Nc6 (0:04)
5. Nd2 (0:04) Nf6 (0:03)
6. f4 (0:03)

Thats is risky. The e3 pawn will become weak later in the game, Right now I can't get at it. He is probably planning an all out attack against my King side.

6. ... Be7 (0:06)
7. Ngf3 (0:01) O-O (0:04)
8. Ne5 (0:03) Qc7 (0:05)
9. O-O (0:06) c4 (0:24)
10. Bc2 (0:11) b5 (0:03)
11. Rf3 (0:07) b4 (0:03)
12. Rh3 (0:18) h6 (0:13)

His Rook will neeed assistance, right now my knight is preventing his Queen from coming in.

13. Qf3 (0:18) Rb8 (0:07)
14. Ba4 (0:41) Bb7 (0:13)
15. g4 (0:20) Nd7 (0:15)
16. Nxc6 (0:37) Bxc6 (0:03)
17. Bc2 (0:11) f6 (0:03)
18. Qg3 (0:16) e5 (0:15)

My position was getting cramped, I am pushing pawns to give myself a little more mobility.
19. fxe5 (0:20) fxe5 (0:03)
20. dxe5 (0:51) Nxe5 (0:03)
21. Nf3 (0:22) Bd6 (0:05)
22. Nxe5 (0:22) Bxe5 (0:03)

Ok. I have opened up the f file giving my rook full mobility. He hasn't fought me for it. Now he is becoming cramped.

23. Qe1 (0:14) Rbe8 (0:14)
24. Bd2 (0:22) d4 (0:02)

I am trying to set a little trap here. If e3 takes d4, Bishop then takes h2 check with a discovered attack on the Queen. But he sees it and moves the Queen out of the way. Which allows me to trade pawns and force his Bishop back to e1 or c1.

25. Qd1 (0:32) dxc3 (0:08)
26. bxc3 (0:09) bxc3 (0:04)
27. Be1 (0:12) Qf7 (0:49)

Queen to f7 threatens mate.

28. Bh4 (0:53) Rd8 (0:23)

If his Bishop takes my rook, Queen f2 is check mate.

29. Qe2 (0:09) Rd2 (0:09)

Rook to d2 was a very strong move. I can win the Queen now and there is very little he can do about it.
If he steps out of the way, I can mate him.

30. Qe1 (0:39) Rg2+ (0:05)

He offered me a draw at this point. It is mate next move. My response: Nyet! He then resigned

King to h1 is forced, then Rook to g3 is check Mate (discovered check mate with the Bishop.) Why win a Queen when you can win the King.

A Quickie

2009-01-07T21:29:00.004-06:00

White out ranks me by about 100 points, but my rating has been in the dumps.
Mostly because I will play when I am to tired.

1. Nf3 (0:00) d5 (0:00)
2. b3 (0:02) c5 (0:03)
3. e4 (0:01) d4 (0:03)
4. Bc4 (0:10) Nc6 (0:03)
5. a3 (0:09) e5 (0:02)

This is probably a line, but I don't know it. It looks strange to me.
I am just trying to play sound center developing moves.

6. Qe2 (0:11) Be7 (0:13)
7. O-O (0:10) Nf6 (0:03)
8. Ng5 (0:04) O-O (0:04)

Go ahead and trade two pieces for a rook!

9. f4 (0:01) exf4 (0:06)

Probably a mistake on my part. Should have made him take and I retake with
a well placed night.

10. Rxf4 (0:03) Ne5 (0:03)
11. Rxf6 (0:31)

Wow, that has to be unsound!

11. ... Bxf6 (0:06)
12. Nxf7 (0:28)

Throwing good money after bad. Or, in for a penny, in for a pound.

12. ... Nxf7 (0:06)
13. d3 (0:06)

Pushing e5 would be better. But even so, I can give back some of
my profit.

13. ... Kh8 (0:08)

I have broke the pin.
14. Qh5 (0:06) Ne5 (0:14)

He puts a double hit on my knight and I just move it out.

15. Bd5 (0:07)

At this point I realize his Queen is looking awfully helpless.

15. Bg4 (0:17)

And White resigns, because his Queen is trapped.

Ice Jam

2009-01-06T22:08:00.011-06:00

For the last few months I have been walking in Browns Woods, West Des Moines IA. for my lunch break. Well about two weeks ago the top layer of snow melted off leaving a thick layer of ice on the trail. I decided not to try walking on that since the risks exceeded the benifits. So, I tryed going back to Great Western Trail, which leads into Des Moines Water Works Park. When I went down there though, I saw the access was closed. The sign said water over the road.

We had had a couple of really warm days which allowed the Raccoon River to partially melt causing a ice jam to occur. So for the last couple of weeks I haven't been able to walk on my lunch break (bummer!) Well yesterday they opened the trail access to the Great Western Trail back up and I went down to look, unfortunatly I forgot my camera. Well today I brought it.

This was my first image overlooking the Raccoon River. According to my best estimate, the river is between 75 - 100 yards wide.

These are the blocks of ice strewn along the road. I assume the City had to use heavy equipment to clear the road of these blocks of ice.

That is my shoe up against a block of ice to show how thick they are. My shoe measures 12.5 inches long.

More images just showing how much ice is really here.

Images using a nearby car to show the physical size of it all.

The following two images showing broken trees in the river.

I really liked the broken tree trunk pointing straight up.

And finally a shot taken from a bridge crossing the river.

Checkmate with a Pawn!!!

2008-04-11T21:32:00.009-05:00

1. d4 (0:00)

Ok, agianst d4 I usually play the Tarrasch.

d5 (0:00)

2. e3 (0:01) e6 (0:01)
3. Bd3 (0:01) c5 (0:02)
4. c3 (0:01) c4 (0:02)
5. Bc2 (0:01) Nc6 (0:04)
6. a3 (0:01)

Nf6 (0:03)
7. f4 (0:02)

f4 just leaves an ugly pawn formation.

Be7 (0:03)
8. Nf3 (0:01) O-O (0:03)
9. O-O (0:01) Nd7 (0:24)

Clearing the way to push pawns and destroy his center.

10. Qe2 (0:01) f6 (0:02)
11. Nbd2 (0:01) e5 (0:05)
12. fxe5 (0:14) fxe5 (0:02)
13. e4 (0:03) dxe4 (0:05)
14. Qxe4 (0:05) Nf6 (0:11)
15. Qe2 (0:15) exd4 (0:04)
16. Qxc4+ (0:05)

Oops, forgot about that.

17. Nxd4 (0:01) Nxd4 (0:11)
18. cxd4 (0:02) Qd5 (0:39)

I am not so bad, He's a pawn up but it is an isolani
and my pieces are better developed.

19. Qxd5 (0:06) Nxd5 (0:02)
20. Nb3 (0:01) Bd7 (0:20)
21. Bd2 (0:02) b6 (0:08)
22. Bd3 (0:13) Bd6 (0:13)
23. Rxf8+ (0:04) Rxf8 (0:03)
24. Rf1 (0:03) Be6 (0:11)
25. Rxf8+ (0:03) Bxf8 (0:03)
26. Bc4 (0:13) Be7 (0:18)
27. Bxd5 (0:02)

He's trading a good B for a N, He will pay
for that

Bxd5 (0:03)
28. Nc1 (0:08) Bf6 (0:04)
29. Bc3 (0:01) a5 (0:21)
30. Nd3 (0:03) b5 (0:04)
31. Nf4 (0:07) b4 (0:13)
32. axb4 (0:02) axb4 (0:05)
33. Bxb4 (0:04)

Well there goes his Isolani and it creates another,
ok technically its a passed pawn.

Bxd4+ (0:02)
34. Kh1 (0:01) Bf7 (0:08)
35. Bc3 (0:02) Bb6 (0:04)

Notice how much area my bishops are covering.

36. Nd3 (0:03) Bc4 (0:03)
37. Nb4 (0:04) h5 (0:05)
38. Nc2 (0:09) Kh7 (0:04)
39. Ne1 (0:02) g5 (0:03)
40. Nf3 (0:01) g4 (0:11)
41. Ne5 (0:05) Bb3 (0:05)
42. Nd7 (0:05) Bf2 (0:09)
43. Nf6+ (0:05) Kg6 (0:03)
44. Ne4 (0:08) Be3 (0:05)
45. Ng3 (0:09) h4 (0:21)

Notice that by moving his knight around attacking willy-nilly,
I am advancing my pawns.

46. Ne2 (0:03) Kf5 (0:16)
47. g3 (0:01) h3 (0:13)

I totally missed that Be5 is check mate!

48. Nf4 (0:08)

Unfortunately now I see it, but now to get it I am going to
have to maneuver.

Ba4 (0:12)
49. Ng2 (0:51)

He wants me to take his knight with my pawn, which would
allow his K to get out of that corner.

Bc6 (0:06)

This pins the knight allowing me to take it at my leisure
50. Bd2 (0:15) hxg2# (0:10)

Checkmate with a pawn!!!

Mostly March & Early April

2008-04-11T14:06:00.028-05:00

2008.03.06

15.01 Temperature 30 degrees and clear, walking on the Pioneer Walkway.
15.04 Creek is free of ice. It is very brown and dirty looking.
15.15 Image taken of a large chunk of ice in the river.

2008.03.09

13.49 Seeing geese in creek a hundred yards off or so.
13.52 Now that I am closer I can see about 20 geese, have taken an image.

13.58 Have gotten some images of ducks on the creek also.

2008.03.10

14.12 35 degrees and sunny. I am walking on the Des Moines River trail.
14.25 Only seen squirrels.
14.36 Image attempted of eagle overhead in flight (sorry its a little blurry, but it is the best
one like this I've gotten.)

2008.03.13

13.30 Walking on the Pioneer trail. Partly clear, 58 degrees.
13.32 First robin of the year seen, no image taken.
13.33 Eagle seen in flight, image attempted, but unsuccessful.
13.35 Image taken of a robin bathing in a crick.

13.39 Image taken of a sparrow sized bird. It is probably a warbler or some sort of fly catcher.

13.43 The ground surrounding the trail is very soggy, water standing in many places, but hasn't breached the trail. I suspect it is a near flooding situation.
13.45 Robins are all over the place now. They must have arrived in force in the last few days.
13.47 Image of what I suspect is a nuthatch. (Sorry the Nut-Hatch is slightly out of focus.)
14.01 Large chunks of ice on the other bank seen, images taken.

14.18 Image taken of a smallish woodpecker.

2008.03.14

13.41 Mid fifties today with a light breeze.
13.59 Seeing lots of robins and not much else.
14.01 Image of Hairy Woodpecker. After inspecting the images, the bottom one has two
woodpeckers in it.

2008.03.15

13.43 Cloudy in the mid 30's. Its drying out a little, but rain is forecast over the next few days.
13.54 Image taken of what are probably Hairy Woodpeckers.
15.58 The trail near the creek, is mostly passable. Yesterday I had to inch my way on the ice bridge
on the edge of the trail but now it is mostly clear. The ice bridge was created when they plowed and then
the snow pack turned to ice.
14.00 Got an image of a male duck. I don't see the female though, but she has to be near by. Inspection of
the images revealed that the female was there, her camouflage was elegant. Look for orange, left of center and you will find a duck attached to it.

14.17 Tried to get an image of a small woodpecker, but I don't think I got it.
14.22 Tried to get an image of a pair of Rose Breasted Grosbeak.

2008.03.18

15.00 Walking on the River Trail I had a mink sighting and got several images of a cardinal.

2008.03.20

13.45 Walking on the Pioneer trail. Its clear and about 55 degrees.
14.02 Several images of a Rose Breasted Grosbeak.
14.07 I see the ducks that I last saw on the creek in a flooded area just to the east of the trail. Image not possible.
14.25 Several images taken of a ducks in the creek. I think they are Mallards.

2008.03.21

13.40 Its mostly clear today and about 45 degrees with a brisk wind of about 25 mph.
13.42 Image taken of a small sparrow sized bird (They turned out to be Goldfinches and blurry.)
Goldfinches are the State Bird of Iowa.
13.49 Image taken of what may be a meadowlark. (I believe they were Meadowlarks, but the images were poor.)
14.04 Image taken of a sparrow sized bird. I think it is a American Tree Sparrow.

14.09 More images of a sparrow sized bird. Why because I could. I am not sure what it is.

14.19 Saw a Rose Breasted Grosbeak, but unable to get image.
14.28 Saw a pair of eagles roosting on downed log, but they flew off before I could get the camera booted up.

2008.03.25

13.42 Its clear and about 55, but windy.
13.54 Image taken of a possible field hawk. Probable Red Tailed Hawk.

13.59 Eagle spotted in flight, no image attempted.
14.27 Images attempted of small sparrow sized birds, they are very very active.
I have not identified it.

2008.03.26

13.37 Several images taken of what may be a meadowlark.
13.56 Image taken of a cardinal.

14.00 Several images taken of goose on a sandbar in the creek.
14.09 Noticing trees are starting to bud out. Image taken of a tree bud.

14.00 Several images taken of goose on a sandbar in the creek.
14.09 Noticing trees are starting to bud out. Image taken of a tree bud.

2008.04.01

13.42 Upper 40's today and mostly cloudy.
14.08 Several images attempted of a probable Hairy Woodpecker.
14.10 Image taken of unidentified bird.
14.14 Image taken of a Rose Breasted Grosbeak.
14.40 Several images of some sort of hawk, estimated distance 100 meters.

2008.04.02

13.25 Sunny upper 50's.
13.44 Took an image of a robin, because I haven't seen anything else.
13.50 Several images of a deer taken.

13.58 Several images of an unidentified bird.
14.11 Blue jays spotted, but image unsuccessful.
14.14 Hairy Woodpecker image taken.
14.16 Images taken of deer.
14.27 Images attempted of what appears to be a hawk.

2008.04.07

13.35 Image taken of an unidentified bird.
13.45 Peepers(frogs) are loud, but I can't see any.
13.51 Image taken of a peeper(frog.)

13.56 Image taken of unidentified bird.
14.09 Images taken of geese in the creek.

2008.04.09

Walked, but forgot my voice recorder. Didn't walk on the 8th due to heavy rain.

The following image was taken on the 9th. I don't know for sure what it is, but I suspect some sort of fly catcher or a Warbler. And lastly I got another picture of a Peeper.

Febuary Walks

2008-03-10T11:09:00.027-05:00

2008.02.05

13.42 Snowing, about 30 degrees. Over the next couple of days we are supposed to get about 6 - 9 inches.

13.57 Squirrel in a snow storm.

2008.02.06

13.43 About 6 inches on the ground and about 30 degrees F. in tempature.

14.07 Downy Woodpecker seen, unable to take image.

2008.02.08
14.27 About 50 degrees today. Deer seen at the edge of the woods.

14.37 Squirrels seen, no image taken.
14.38 Woodpecker seen, probably a male Hairy Woodpecker.

A bioligist that I know, who is into photography, pointed out that this is a very good photo (below.)

14.45 More woodpecker images taken, possibly the same species.

14.50 Eagle seen in flight, image attempted, but not successful.
2008.02.11

15.29 Its cold, about 5 degrees.
15.40 Eagles seen in trees. No image taken, too much brush in the way.
15.51 Another eagle spotted, a couple hundred yards away. Its flying close to the trees, no image attempted.

2008.02.12

14.21 Fifteen degrees and sunny, nothing seen yet.
15.00 Small woodpecker seen, image unsuccessful.

2008.02.20

15.25 Walking on the river trail, its about zero today. Nothing seen yet.
15.52 Geese seen in flight.

2008.02.22

14.56 Downy Woodpecker imaged (probably a female.) Its warm today and the trails are about two-thirds clear. This is the first time in weeks I've been able to walk down here without boots on.

14.57 Large hawk or eagle seen and imaged. It appears to have been in a fight.

2008.02.29

14.44 Snow from earlier in the week is almost gone. Its in the 40's today.
14.57 Hearing birds, but not seeing them. Ice in the river is melting, but no clear channel yet.
15.22 Image of squirrel taken, because I am not seeing anything else.

2008.03.01

14.52 About 40 today, lots of melting and I am having to work my way around it, mostly using ice bridges.
15.09 Geese imaged on the creek, the first of the year (there is over 20 of them.)

2008.03.04
15.46 I am on the river trail today, several images of a cardinal taken.

15.49 Several images of eagles taken, also seeing ducks in the river.
16.08 Image taken of an eagle in a tree. The tree is about 10 meters from me and the angle is up sharp.

January

2008-02-01T15:49:00.000-06:00

January has been a cold snowy month. Very little astronomy was attempted since it was mostly cloudy.

2008.01.03

13.50 Squirrels seen, no image taken.
13.51 Two downy woodpeckers seen, image of one taken (In the snow.)

14.00 Soaring eagle seen, no image taken (Its very difficult to get a picture of birds in flight, due to the slow action on automatic digital cameras.)
14.45 Geese seen flying in the distance.
14.50 Three deer seen, probably all does. Got an image of one (Didn't turn out.)

2008.01.04

14.34 Image taken of some small birds, possibly sparrows (Didn't turn out.)
.

2008.01.10

14.55 Squirrels seen, no image taken.

2008.01.11

14.59 Only seen squirrels up to this point, one image taken.

15.31 Eagle seen, no image taken.

2008.01.15

15.27 Saw two deer, got an image of one. Then two other deer joined the first and then I got multiple images.

2008.01.16

13.54 Currently there is light snow, but a larger storm is brewing to the west. (We received about 4 inches of snow durring the night.) Not much moving around, saw a few squirrels.
14.21 Saw geese in flight, no images taken.

2008.01.17

15.24 There is fresh snow on the ground and it is cold (around 13 deg. Fareheit.) I have taken an image of a deer. When the deer fled I could see two white tails.
15.50 Several images taken of the frozen riverbed.

2008.01.21

14.26 Taken an image of a squirrel using its tail to protect itself from the falling snow with its tail. Saw a downy Woodpecker, but didn't get an image.

14.54 Now I have taken an image of a downy woodpecker.

15.10 Saw an eagle in flight, no image taken.

2008.01.22

13.37 Three does in the brush, image attempted, but it didn't turn out.
13.43 Seeing a lot of red squirrels, no images attampted.
13.45 Ok, I took a couple images of a squirrel.

2008.01.23

13.27 Light snow, no animals seen so far.
13.39 Saw two deer at a distance, no image attempted. They appear to be circling around me.
13.46 Took an image of a squirrel at fairly near range.

2008.01.25

15.49 Lots of geese on the Des Moines River.

Have seen three eagles that have landed in some trees. One is directly across
the river from me and the others are a few hundred yards up the river. Tried to take an image but they didn't turn out very good, but am posting the best one.

2008.01.28

14.14 Warm today, low 50's. The snow is melting and cricks are filling up.

15.05 Eagle spotted, several images attempted.

2008.01.30

14.38 Current tempature 7 degrees Ferinheit, light snow. Yesterday I skipped walking due to a -14 windchill factor. Taken image of four deer,
then at least three more join them. Several images taken.

15.28 Several images of what I think is an American Kestrel.

The Iowa Caucus

2008-01-07T10:10:00.001-06:00

I attended my local Republican Iowa Caucus. Like usual, I left pissed. First off, let me state for the record that I am a moderate who has only a mild tilt to the right. And yes I attend church regularly, but I consider my religion to be a thoughtful process and not a knee jerk reaction.

First off, they had us recite the Pledge of Allegiance. OK, I could live with that. Then they passed around a petition to have Judge Robert Hansen impeached due to decision he made to grant a divorce to a gay couple. They called his actions illegal. I found there assertions to be questionable. I also found the display to be hateful to people they don't understand. Maybe my perspective is skewed since I have a close friend that is gay. I did not sign it.

Then each candidate's representative was asked to speak on behalf of their candidate. I gave it a moment, to see if someone would speak. When none did, I spoke up.

I said that the last two election have been very divisive, splitting the country right down the middle. I also stated that I was supporting Giuliani, who I felt would be a healing candidate. Maybe the right and the left wouldn't be totally happy with him, but he was someone they could accept, while if a right wing candidate was selected we would have a repeat of our current situation.

Then a Huckabee supporter, stood up and said that the country needs moral leadership. He mentioned King David as an example and said he was supporting Huckabee. He tried to quote scripture and couldn't. He did mention that God often chooses the common men (like a shepherd) to be leaders.

I could have gone off on the King David comment, but chose not to. I did make one final statement though. They had mentioned that workers were needed to get out the final vote, since Democrats out number Republicans in our state. I added Most Americans are moderates in varying degrees and if we choose a right wing candidate again this time, we are taking a crap shoot and I believe we will lose it this time, while a moderate is a safer bet.

There were other statements for the other candidates also, but I could feel the force was against me. In the end I was the only vote for Giuliani, with about 6 votes going for Romney and the vast amount going for Huckabee.

Final thoughts:

It seems that the parties haven't learned anything from the previous election cycle and want to fight the same battle over. But I suspect the real problem is that Iowa holds a caucus, not a primary. Caucuses, require a commitment of several hours, while a Primary requires only 15 - 30 minutes. In a Primary, the voter goes and casts their vote and then they can follow up on the rest of their personal responsibilities. The upshot of all of this is that for a Caucus only the party activists show up and therefore extreme ends of each party are chosen. The Caucus is a quaint romantic notion of what politics should be like and not representative of our fast paced digital world and most Iowans bypass it. I had to use two hours of personal time to even attend. So a state of 3 million (Of which only a small minority vote at the caucus level) gets to skew the presidential election for a nation of 300 million, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

I would love to actually see, the Right wing nominate their candidate on the Republican side, the left wing nominate theirs on Democratic side and then a moderate run as an Independent and take the Presidency away from both of these two bozo parties. Within 3 to 4 election cycles after such an event we would see both parties sidelined as minority parties and a new center party would emerge. Then the two fringe parties would be pumping new ideas into the national debate and the center party could decide what is reasonable and what isn't.

A new Woodpecker

2007-12-06T20:00:00.001-06:00

I took my usual walk Monday and came upon a woodpecker. I fired up my new Kodak and tried to take a shot, but it kept flying from tree to tree. After lighting on about three trees, he lit down on a small shrub. I quickly fired off two shots at maximum zoom and then he was gone.

At first I thought he was just a Downy Woodpecker, but after more careful scruitney of the image we are about 95% sure that this little feller is a male Hairy Woodpecker. Tell me what you think?

2007-12-01T22:34:00.001-06:00

Well, there has been this little red headed woodpecker hanging around where I walk. He is also a noisy litte feller, which I assume is his strategy to get at the insects. Well, I tried to get an image of him and tried and tried and tried. But between battery problems and slow camera boot up and this little feller just playing hard to get, I couldn't get it.

Well Best Buy had a sale on a new camera (and a lot of other stuff,) but I wasn't going to stand in line at 3 am just to get a chance for something. So the following day we went out there. Someone must have missed it, because they had one Kodak Easy Share Z712 camera left. I had some trouble convincing the clerk that this camera was the one on sale. Well, I very happily walked out of the store with a 7 megapixel, 12x zoom camera all for under $200.

Well early this week I got the following image. I only got one shot at him.

Yea, thats him sitting in the middle of the picture on a branch. He was quite a ways off and this is at maximum zoom. Not impressed, well look down below at just a small section of this image!

Its good enough that I can identify him now. We believe him to be a male Red Bellied Woodpecker. According to Wikopedia:

Red-bellied woodpeckers are noisy birds, and have many varies calls. Calls have been described as sounding like "churr-churr-churr" or "chuf-chuf-chuf" with an alternating "br-r-r-r-t" sound. Males tend to call and drum more frequently than females, but both sexes call.

A Walk in the Virgin Snow

2007-11-26T20:12:00.000-06:00

November 21st Des Moines was supposed to just get a dusting of snow. It turned out to be the first snow storm of the year giving us about 3 inches. I was working that day, so about 2:30pm having accumulated all of my break time from a 12 hour shift, I went out for a walk. My co-workers thought I was nuts, but I went anyway. All of my break time is 1 hour and 15 minutes, if you are curious.

The first two images are looking down from my Employer's Property on to the valley where I walk, as you can see it is still snowing. The little circle in the upper center of these images is the result of a smudge on the lens, sorry.
.

The following image is half way to the woods, this is prairie in transition to woods. These are very young trees and scrub plants.

The following two images is where I am approaching the woods. It is still snowing pretty good. This area flooded real bad several times last spring and summer and therefore not much shrubbery is growing here, but there are some trees in the background (The Woods.)

The entrance to the Woods. This image doesn't relay very well the gloomy foreboding appearance that existed in reality.

After the woods, you come to the creek. I like this area, it is my favorite place on the trail. There is a bench up along here, and it can be very pleasant to just sit and relax.

This is Cheryl's favorite image, with the entrance to the woods being second.

Iowa Star Party

2007-09-22T11:02:00.002-05:00

First of all that's my telescope. It is a 20cm (8 Inch) LX-90 SCT. It is a f10 instrument with a focal length of 2032mm. I like SCT's because they are good all around performers. They don't excel at anything, but they perform well in all categories and they are very transportable.

The telescope you see here breaks down into three pieces:

The tripod
The wedge
The telescope and its fork mount.

And if necessary, I can carry this telescope in almost any car.

That is Kevin Fox on the left and Jim Holloway on the right. They are members of the Des Moines Astronomical Society (DMAS which is my club.) And they built this telescope themselves. It is a 16 inch F5 Newtonian, they did all of the woodworking and they ground the optics themselves. These are commonly called DOBs, since the basic design came from John Dobson one of the original side walk astronomers. They will sell it for $2600.00, Jim later told me that he is very proud of the optics on this telescope. I have two pictures of them with this scope, one didn't have the black cover fully around the scope. Jim jokingly told me not to use that picture, since they wanted no pornographic telescope pictures published.

Another member of our club, Tammy Mortenson with her 10 inch LX-200 GPS telescope. It is a bigger cousin of my telescope. The Mortenson's bought a party tent from Walmart and set it up without the roof and used it as a wind and light shield.

This is Bob Price from the Chicago area. This is also a 16 inch F5 Dob telescope. Bob ground the optics himself in a telescope making shop and the rest was a kit from Astro Systems. I quietly looked through both 16 inch F5 telescopes at the same object and thought Jim and Kevin's performed better, but my opinion may be less then fair since they are members of my club.

Unfortunately, when I went around to take this gentleman's picture, I didn't get his name. I do know he is also from the Chicago area and he will talk your arm off. His first telescope is a 8 inch F6 Newtonian on a El Novac mount. He said it was refigured around 1990, saying like most commercial mirrors it had only one half the correction it needed. The second telescope is a 6 inch F5.33 (most amateurs would just say F5.) He says he has an eye piece that will give him a full 3 degrees field of view (that is very good.) That night he showed me the North American Nebula through this scope and it was very impressive. I have trouble seeing it through my scope, since I can only get a field of view around 1.25 degrees.

This is Dave Venne from Burnsville, MN and teaches at Augsburg College (Meteorology and Astronomy.) His telescope is a Teleue 102 mm (4 inch) refractor on a goto mount. He admitted to finally giving into the goto.

This is Al Johnson, President of the Ames Area Amateur Astronomy Club. This is a 24 inch DOB with a 100 inch focal length (F4.) Al Johnson and Jim Bonzer (see image below) built this for Ames Area Amateur Astronomy Club. This is the largest telescope on the observing field. I have seen larger ones though, Jim Holloway used to own a 32 inch DOB.

This is Jim Bonzer with his telephoto setup that he uses for astro photography. The lens is a 80mm F8 telephoto lens (Its basically a refractor) and the camera is a Canon 30D digital SLR (Astronomers love this camera.)

This is Ben Sinclair, another member of DMAS and his 12 inch Orion DOB, its a F4.9, which is a fairly fast scope. Little side story here. Ben forgot to see if the telescope would fit in his car when he bought it (It Won't,) so he had to rent a SUV to bring it to the star party.

This is Charles Whitford from Arkansas and a member of the Sugar Creek Astronomy Club with his 12 inch Meade Lightbridge telescope. It is a f5 telescope with a focal length of 1524mm. Charles is a retired band instructor who plays a Native American Flute (He played some Dvorak for me.) The day he arrived was his 85th birthday and the story I heard was that the condominium where he lives was planning on throwing a birthday party for him. But he bolted and came to our little star party instead. I picture a lot of very disappointed little old ladies.

The Iowa Star Party is hosted by Ames Area Amateur Astronomy Club and Whiterock Conservancy. Whiterock Conservancy is an organization to protect the land that used to belong to Garst Farms. In the middle of Whiterock Conservancy is a little Bed & Breakfast (Whiterock Resort ) ran by Liz Garst. The Whiterock Resort provided us with this meal Saturday. The pork was pretty good and the green beans were fine. The Au Gratin potatoes and the cucumbers were excellent. Now before I tell you about the tomatoes, let me explain a little classification system I have for tomatoes:

1.Communist tomatoes, these are the tomatoes served in fast food restaurant. They are usually pink and sometimes even have green in them. These are terrible tomatoes and only the most common of appetites would enjoy these tomatoes.
2.A step up from Communist tomatoes, is Capitalist tomatoes. These are the ones grown in greenhouses and you will often find these tomatoes in sit down type restaurants. The color of these tomatoes is usually red and they taste ok, but are usually not wonderful.
3.Bourgeois tomatoes are usually home grown or at least hand cared for in a garden and not in a green house. These tomatoes are usually the best and taste at their peak around July.

4The tomatoes we were served were not only bourgeois, but the best of the class. Not only that, they had the aroma of tomatoes and any tomato connoisseur would have enjoyed.

And finally, on the day we were breaking camp and everyone else had left. I got a picture of this fawn on the edge of the observing field.

Venus and Saturn

2007-07-06T14:30:00.000-05:00

Venus and Saturn from my Driveway Sunday, July 1st 09:30pm.
They were within one field of view with my lowest power eye piece. Unfortunatly I wasn't able to imige that. From our vantage point, the two planets were only 0.8 degrees apart.

Images This Week

2007-05-11T21:43:00.000-05:00

Monday 5/7 I took this image of a Goldfinch, I swear the bird was only two inches in length. My books say they should be 5.
Also Monday, up in Terra Park, there is a flood control pond with a bunch of reeds growing. It is a favorite hangout for ducks and geese. I got this picture of a duck.

And then I got lucky and caught these ducks while taking off, you can decide if it is a good image or not.

Tuesday, I walked down to the creek to see if the flooding had subsided. It hadn't, but while down there I spied this Meadowlark. I am not quite sure if it is the Easttern or Western variety, maybe someone out there can tell me.

I then saw some geese on the greens surrounding Terra Park Pond. It sort of a dike built around the pond. I usually circle the pond once and then walk back to work.

Wendesday, I walked down toward the creek to see if it had improved. It hadn't.

And then to add insult to injury, I spied this duck swimming over what should be the trail.

So I then walked back to Terra Park and spotted this deer.

I apparently spooked him and he took off. I got lucky and got him in motion. Lucky because, the action on the camera is so slow any action images are pure luck.

And this in my opion is the best image of the week.

Late April

2007-05-05T12:02:00.000-05:00

April 24th - 25th it rained in the Des Moines (and all of central Iowa) area. According to Iowa State University we got 2.7 inches over the two days. This of course had a negative effect on my excercise program since it flooded my walking trail. I work in a Johnston (A suburb of Des Moines, IA) and right behind my employer is a very nice bike and walking trail.

These images were taken on April 26th.

If you look at just below the trees, there is a thin strip of water. This is the creek that has overflowed. This is looking down from my employers property toward the North East, which is considerbly higher then the walking trail.

These two pictures are looking to the south east of my employers property, the flooding is much more prominent here.

Since I wasn't going to be able to walk on my favorite trails, I decided to walk over to Terra Park, which is about one half mile from where I work. I found the two signs in the following pictures kind of amusing. The following three images all were on the south edge of the park.

Thursday May 3rd, I was able to get down to the creek and take a few pictures.

This tree was aparently ripped out by the root and is now in the middle of the creek.

Sand has been deposited from the creek up onto the trail.

This had been dry woodlands, now it is a wet mess.

Theese two images show the prarie just to the west of the creek. Notice how the grass has been ripped up and deposited around the tree trunks.

Animals

2007-03-11T21:27:00.000-05:00

I haven't been posting lately due to the fact that Iowa can be boring during the winter. Now that spring is starting to peek through, I am starting to see animals again.

This little feller is a Downy Woodpecker and this image was taken sometime last month.

Late last month, I saw a city of Geese hanging out at The Des Moines River, just north of the City.

Here is a closeup of some of the Geese.

I took this image last Friday. This character is a Cedar Waxwing, viewing him at 100% shows a lot of detail.

And the same day I took this image, he is a Mink.

Today after church Cheryl and I decided to go for a walk. These Eagles were hanging out on the other side of the river and I took a few shots.

I saw this cardinal too. Well to be truthful, I heard him first and then had a little trouble seeing him. But I got an image.

And the best image is of .......................

The Cedar Waxwing.

Snow Storm

2007-03-11T19:02:00.000-05:00

He is playing the sub variation where he connects his Queen to his dark bishop and then tries to exchange the dark bishops. Good for him if I allow it. The book response is d5.

8. ... d5

That is as far as I remember book in this line, so the rest I have to play using my own tactical and strategic skills. I do recall that White needs to exchange the Knight on d4 for mine on c6 or bad things start to happen.

9.exd5 Nxd5
10.Nxd5 Qxd5
11.c3 Nxd4
12.Bxd4 Rd8

Increases the pressure on the center making whites position somewhat uncomfortable.Notice if he exchanges dark squared Bishops now, I mate him.

13.0-0-0 Qxa2

Not a paticularly good move on his part, since it drops the a2 pawn. Now his King is looking helpless and my pieces are looking strong.

14.Qe3 Bf5
15.Bd3 Bxd3
16.Bxg7

He can't do that! At least he can't do that and live to tell about it.

16. ... Qb1+

The queen is protected by the light squared bishop which he didn't retake after I took his. Now his King has to flee into a discovered check.

17.Kd2 Bc2+
A discovered check with 3 pieces hitting his poor helpless rook (My Queen, Bishop and Rook!)

18.Ke2

After move 18 he saw his position as hopeless. I am going to win the Rook and then recapture his dark squared Bishop. He will be down a Rook, Bishop and several pawns when I am done.

Image of the week

2006-12-10T18:36:00.000-06:00

OK, for several months - since I haven't been posting.

We are in the dead of winter here in Iowa (and we don't even have any snow to show for it) and the scenes is all very dreary. Most of the pretty birds have gone elsewhere for the winter and the landscape is all very brown. I was out for one of my walks when I heard rustling in the bushes. Well I could see the tail of what looked like a ferret. I have been trying to get a picture of one of these guys for quite a while now. So I fired my camera up and got several pictures of this very industrious little feller. Further research indicates this little guy is a "Mink!" I think his coat looks better on him then it could ever look on a human.

Terry

The Electric Car, Why it makes sense.

2006-09-09T19:11:00.000-05:00

Currently We are burning 150 Billion gallons of gasoline* per year in the United States. We are noticing a significant changes in our weather patterns, which most reputable scientists think is being caused by greenhouse gases (Carbon-Dioxide.)

In California and Europe, individuals and several small companies have been experimenting with electric cars for commuting. Some of the high end vehicles rival sports cars in performance and still have a range of 150 miles. Mostly these vehicles though have ranges of 40 – 65 miles with a top speed somewhere in the area of 50 – 65mph. The ones I have read about the most are former gas powered vehicles that have been converted to electric. Apparently the favorite vehicle to convert is the Ford Ranger Pickup (plenty of room for batteries and a heavy duty suspension system to take the weight of the batteries.)

Currently, most driving involves short drives to and from work, mostly under 50 miles per day. According to a recent Internet Story (Seen on MSN News, Yahoo News and CNN) the average commute in this country is 16 miles, unfortunately they didn’t provide a standard deviation which would have made the information more valuable.

Therefore, I suggest that the following strategy should be followed:

1. Pressure GM & Ford to manufacture a commuting vehicle powered by electricity. They should go for a design that would minimize it original cost, while maximizing the range and shoot for cruising speed somewhere in the range of 50 – 65 mph.
2. Upgrade the electric grid, so that it can handle the extra stress of recharging all of these cars on a nightly basis.
3. Start a long term project to downsize the current coal and oil generation of electricity and replace it with a combination of renewable and nuclear generating plants. It will do very little good to replace gasoline in our cars with coal or oil in our energy plants. Be aware that we will need considerably more electricity under these situations then we are using now.

Long Term benefits:

1. The Environment, even though it will probably take a long time to repair the current damage.
2. The trade deficit would be wiped clean and we would probably have a trade surplus.
3. The oil that we need for other uses will probably drop in price.
4. Al Qaida funding will drop. Most of their income is coming out of the oil we are buying from the Middle East and this could very likely put them out of business. It would also shut up both Iran and Venezuela, which are both causing us all kinds of foreign policy problems. I might add the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah was funded by Iran, which got all of those Petro Dollars from us the Industrialized World.

Negatives:

1. Convenience. Right now we can jump in our cars and drive anywhere we want within reason. I believe most consumers would settle on owning an Electric for most of their personal needs and then rent a gas powered vehicle for longer trips.
2. For certain consumers, the Electric will never be an economically feasible vehicle. Take for example the agriculture industry, who have a constant need to haul heavy loads. Also salesman, who are on the road for several hundred miles every work day.

*** Warning, Warning *** You are now entering the Rant Zone!

Probability of this happening: Nil!

Unfortunately, the Republican Party is in bed with the Oil Companies (Who will fight this Foot, tooth and nail,) and the Democrats are in bed with the Environmentalists. The Environmentalists will fight using Nuclear Energy Foot, tooth and nail. To the Environmentalists, let me point out a simple fact. If we keep going as we are today, our environment will implode. 100% guarantee! The risks of using nuclear energy are far less (10% at the worst.) And the American Public will not accept going back to 19th century as a life style.

Our current politicians are doing what is best for their party over what is best for the country (and YES, I mean BOTH parties.) We desperately need a third party, a pragmatic and centrist party with limited ties to big business, to make these tough decisions.

* Scientific American, 9/2006, page 60.

The Check is in the Mail

2006-09-01T10:12:00.000-05:00

Or the Power of the Discovered Check

Played on FICS August 26th, I was white.

1.d4 e6 2.c4 d5
3.Nc3 dxc4
4.e4

Queens Gambit Accepted. I have a lot of fun with this line.

4. ... Bb4
5.Bxc4 Bxc3+
6.bxc3 Bd7
7.Nf3 Bc6

I decided to trade off pawns in the center. I felt I would still control the center and my opponent would have to do something with his Bishop. Otherwise I would gain at least a tempo.
8.d5 exd5
9.exd5 Bd7
10.0-0 Ne7
11.Re1

There are several reasons for this move:
1. Rooks want to control open files.
2. It is a central file and it really strengthens my center.
3. It is a pin. Pins are usually only temporary advantages, but ...

11. ... 0-0

He or she castles out of check, breaking the pin.
I have decided to re-pin and I have 2 good choices:
1. Ba3 pin the Night against his Rook.
2. Bg5, pinning the Night against his queen.

I chose option 2, because it sets up either a very nice attack or a sneaky discovered check.

12.Bg5 f6

This was the move I had hoped for. It sets up a discovered check on his King and an attack on Knight simultaneously and it ends up winning a Knight and a rook for the price of a pawn. For black, Re8 would have been a much better move.

13.d6+ Kh8
14.dxe7 Qe8
15.exf8Q+ Qxf8

Black should have resigned at this point. He is down almost a whole Queen, but he played on for a while. The game after this point is uninteresting, but I am posting it anyway for your viewing pleasure.

16.Be3 Bc6
17.Nd4 a6
18.Nxc6 Nxc6
19.Be2 Rc8
20.Bg4 Rd8
21.Qb3 b5
22.Rad1 Rxd1
23.Rxd1 Ne5
24.Be6 c5
25.Bf4 c4
26.Qb4 Nd3
27.Qxf8# 1-0

Green Backed Heron (Juvenile)

2006-08-17T08:56:00.000-05:00

I took this image on or about August 10th, 2006. It was in an area I normally check for wildlife. At first I missed seeing it, since it was standing perfectly still. But the scene looked odd to me, so I double checked it and thats when I saw it. I took two shots with my camera (one turned out blurry.)

I had no idea what this species was. I have a Birds of Iowa field guide, but the Green Backed Heron isn't in there. They apparently breed in Iowa, but are not year long residents. I am probably going to have to find a better bird book, I used to have a copy Roger Tory Petersons Guide to Eastern United States. That book was great and I may have to purchase another copy. Thanks to Dennis Hill for knowing who to ask in making the id.

Blue Herons

2006-08-15T21:30:00.000-05:00

I had mentioned in a previous post that Blue Heron's are somewhat shy creatures and that last year it took me weeks to get an acceptable picture of one. Well in the last couple of weeks I have gotten numerous images of them. These are the best, some of the others are so so, and others are down right blurry.

The first image was on August 4th and it is on "Squirrel Island" which I now sneak up on with my camera armed and ready. These were all taken along the bike path behind my employer in Johnston, Iowa. All but the first image was taken last week, unfortunatly I don't have the exact times or dates since I forgot to set the time and date on my camera when I changed batteries.

Enjoy, Terry

Observing

2006-07-27T17:10:00.000-05:00

Tuesday Night was very clear which is what I came here for. I had picked up at the sign in a "Nebraska Star Party Planetary Challenge Sheet" and started to work on it.

Object ra dec Time Date Desc

ic4593 16.11.45 12.04.17 23:40 2006/07/25 Small Planetary
ic4599 16.19.23 42.15.36- 23:00 2006/07/27 Small Planetary
ngc6153 16.31.30 40.15.13-
ngc6210 16.44.30 23.48.00 23:54 2006/07/25 Small Planetary
ngc6302 17.13.44 37.06.14- 00:00 2006/07/26 Mid sized Planetary
ngc6337 17.22.15 38.29.01- 23:40 2006/07/27 Small Planetary
ngc6309 17.14.04 12.54.38- 00:12 2006/07/26 Small, very near Moderatly bright star.
ngc6369 17.29.21 23.45.35- 02:40 2006/07/26 Small Planetary
ngc6445 17.49.15 20.00.34- 02:42 2006/07/26 Mid sized,dim planetary
ngc6543 17.58.33 66.37.59 02:48 2006/07/26 Bright blue Planetary, "The Cats Eye."
ngc6563 18.12.03 33.52.06- 23:30 2006/07/25 Small Planetary
ngc6572 18.12.06 06.51.13 00:20 2006/07/26 Midsized Planetary
ngc6567 18.13.45 19.04.34-
ic1297 19.17.23 39.36.47-
ngc6781 19.18.28 06.32.23 01:55 2006/07/26 Nice largePlanetary
ngc6804 19.31.36 09.13.30 02:05 2006/07/26 Midsized Planetary
ngc6818 19.43.58 14.09.11- 02:10 2006/07/26 Small Planetary
ngc6826 19.44.48 50.31.30 02:14 2006/07/26 Small Bright Planetary
ngc6853 19.59.36 22.43.16 02:16 2006/07/26 Big & Bright (also known as M27, The Dumbbell)
ngc6891 20.15.09 12.42.15 02:25 2006/07/26 Smallish Planetary, 2 in same field of view.
ngc6894 20.16.24 30.33.55 02:30 2006/07/26 Midsized Planetary

I used 2 32mm eye pieces, one with a O3 Filter (good for detecting Planeary nebulas,) and one without. I would switch the eye pieces back and forth trying to detect the planetarys. This works because of what planetaries are, which is old dieing stars. They have burn't all of their hydrogen in their cores and have then started burning the helium into heavier elements. One of the heavier atoms is oxygen and the O3 filter can detect excited oxygen.
With a O3 filter in, stars should be diminished in brightness and planetarys should remain as bright. For higher magnifications I switched to a 15mm. 32 mm eye pieces should give 63x, while the 15mm should give 135x.

Terry

Sight Seeing

Hi,

My name is Terry.

Early this year I upgraded Telescopes to a Meade 8" LX-90 from a non goto LX-10. Now if you compared telescopes to cars, the LX-10 would be a Yugo, it has marginal optics and its tracking was never that good and of course the object had to be located first. While the LX-90 is a Chevy Impala, not top of the line but very capable. It has fairly good optics, goto and relatively good tracking.

At about the same time I purchased a Meade DSI imager. Now the weather this year has been mostly cloudy and I have only gotten my scope out a few times. There has also been a learning curve with the new telescope and the DSI imager. I am afraid I am also suffering from Murphy's Law of telescopes (When a new telescope is purchased, cloudy weather will prevail.)

Well the following is the first relatively good image obtained with the LX-90/DSI combo.

The Cats Eye is what is known as a "Planetary Nebula." The name is historical and has nothing to do with planets, earlier astronomers thought they looked like planets forming in deep space. It is now known that they are dying stars, that have exhausted their main source of energy (hydrogen) and are now losing their outer shells of gas to deep space. You can read all about Planetary Nebula's at: http://www.astro.washington.edu/balick/WFPC2/ I read somewhere that a Planetary Nebula is a wreath laid down for a dead star. Now this image is only a few minutes in length and therefore I didn't get a lot of detail.