Category: Observation

Early April Morning …and the Moon

On By mvschulzeIn Ambiance, Art, Astronomy, Color, Curiosities, Happiness, Jersey Shore, Morning Twilight, New Jersey, Observation, Perspectives, Photography, Pondering, Science, serenity, silhouette, Spring, Sunrise, Twilight2 Comments

                                                         Yesterday, April 8th

Thanks for viewing. Comments are always welcome and zoom in for a closer look. M 🙂

The Smith Tower – Seattle, Washington

On By mvschulzeIn 1910's, 1980's, Adventure, Art, Buildings, Exploring, Family, Observation, Perspectives, Photography, Pondering, Seattle, Sky Scrapper, Summer, Travel, Vacation, Washington State6 Comments

At forty-two stories, 462′ (141 m,) the Smith Tower was the tallest building in Seattle for fifty-five years, 1914 to 1969. On a vacation some years ago, we enjoyed the history of that building and climbing to the observation level near the top.

From the NW corner,  eleven-year old Steve stands before the Seattle Space Needle seen here to the north.

                      Eastern Elliot Bay forms the waterfront of Seattle.

And the view south is the old King Dome, which we thoroughly toured earlier, with the King Street Train Station (with tower) and I-5 in the distance to the left, here looking south

         Thanks for viewing, zoom in for a closer look and comments are always welcome. M 🙂

Bird On A Wire

On By mvschulzeIn Birds, Curiosities, Electricity, Home, Jersey Shore, Mystery, New Jersey, Observation, Perspectives, Photography, Pondering, Science6 Comments

A while ago, I had taken this picture, not thinking much about it until coming across it later and thinking that this gull was really good at balancing on the wire. Calm, cool and …just casually sitting on the wire! Here’s an example of how a one dimensional photo lacks the extra information gained by depth perception. Do you see it?

Thanks for viewing, zoom in for a closer look, and comments are always welcome. M 🙂

Escaping the Wrong Way from New Jersey in WINTER

On By mvschulzeIn 1990's, Airplanes, Career, concern, Daytrip, driving, New Jersey, New York, Observation, Perspectives, Photography, Planes, Pondering, snow, Winter2 Comments

Newark Airport – Terminal ‘C.’     Early morning, quite a few years ago. “Florida?”  “Hawaii?” …I could only dream!  

Retired now, but a glimpse back to years of employment often revealed necessary travel. How nice!  But mid-winter?  It meant up early in the cold, managing the slippery roads to the airport, and shuffle off to …Buffalo, or Detroit, or some other frozen landascape.Renting a car was the norm. Bringing it back in one piece was the expectation.

Yeah, there was work to be done, and yes, often pretty landscapes in between.

But, at the end of some of those days, there was always a little nervous anticipation, often by the windows of the waiting room, pretending to read “USA Today” while supressing the notion of helplessly skidding or sliding down the runway in that plane out there. I would maybe think: Is this the fun part yet?

Thanks for viewing, and comments are always welcome. Zoom in for a closer look.

M 🙂

 

 

 

 

In Search of Pluto

On By mvschulzeIn 1960's, Astronomy, Back Yard, Corvid-19, Curiosities, Exploring, Home, New Jersey, Observation, Pandemic, Perspectives, Pondering, Remembering, Science, telescope, Uncategorized, Weather5 Comments

A tale from over fifty years ago!

Using this 10″ (255mm) reflector telescope, and a simplistic chart published in Sky and Telescope magazine, I would try to confirm seeing Pluto, …a difficult star-like pinpoint at the edge of visibility. Observing from my suburban town only twenty miles (32 km) N.W. from the brightness of New York City, proved challenging.

A second observation from a considerably darker location was planned as Pluto would have slightly changed position amongst the same stars. But it didn’t happen as unfavorable weather conditions persisted for several weeks.

ABOVE: As seen in the eyepiece, …a rough drawing of visible stars in the area of where I believed Pluto was located. The arrows, particularly “G,” indicated possible candidates. I estimated magnitude 14, (the published approximate magnitude, or brightness of Pluto,) was about the faintest I could see at the time.
ABOVE: Compare the sketch to this same very small area in the constellation Leo, as shown from “Google Sky,” a searchable photographic atlas available free on-line, and certainly not available back then!

Did I see Pluto? Maybe, or maybe not. I recently concluded there was not sufficient evidence for me to comfortably confirm a sighting.  But re-visiting this event from an “armchair viewpoint” so many years later, was …an interesting way to pass the time during this pandemic year.

Special thanks to “Cosmic Focus,” an advanced amateur astronomer/imager from Australia, for providing the incentive to re-visit this quest, …and guiding me to to the current charting resources available today. His wonderful captures of Pluto and a keyway to a remarkable WordPress site can be found here or https://cosmicfocus.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/pluto-the-previous-planet.

Thanks also for viewing. Comments are always welcome, and you can zoom in for a closer look. M 🙂