Norman Edmund, Optics Entrepreneur, Dies

Edmund Optics® Mourns the Loss of Founder, Norman W. Edmund

My homebuilt reflector telescope is an Edmund instrument, as the 8 inch mirror was ground from an Edmund mirror blank, and several other key components were ordered from Edmund, including the diagonal secondary mirror and mirror mount, the eyepiece mount, and my original two eyepieces. I’ll always remember when my big box of telescope-making goodies from Edmund Scientific came, back in 1978. Thanks, Mr. Edmund, for helping make my telescope dream possible! In tribute to Mr. Edmund, I’ll rerun this photo of “The Light Ship,” as well as a composite photo of the Moon and several planets, all photographed through The Light Ship:

Below: The Moon, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter & Galileans, Saturn, and Uranus, photographed at various times with 8″ reflector telescope and LG VX8360 cell phone camera, all at the same magnification. Click for larger view.

But looks like a couple of momentous new discoveries have occurred in the worlds of ancient Judaism and Biblical studies:

Ancient Jewish scrolls found in north Afghanistan

Earliest fragment of Paul’s Letter to the Romans?

But not today! Brr! Subzero temperatures with worse windchill made it not a good morning to crawl out to the shed observatory and haul the big scope out, so in my relentless quest to document the Moon’s progress, here are a couple of photos that I shot with the small scope through the kitchen window (and as you can see, through some ground clutter as well):

Above: 7:47 AM CST 1-19-12 (13:47 UT). Actually the most detailed of the two shots, though the Moon is partially blocked by a larger branch.
Below: 7:50 AM CST 1-19-12 (13:50 UT)

60mm refractor telescope, 25mm eyepiece, LG VX8360 cell phone camera. Click for larger view.

Above: 12:36 AM CST 1-14-12 (6:36 UT), with 60mm refractor telescope and 17mm eyepiece. The Moon was “blinking” through rushing clouds as it rose in my east-southeastern sky.
Below: 7:24 AM CST 1-15-12 (13:12 UT), 8″ reflector telescope and 25mm eyepiece, in my southwestern sky.

Above: 6:22 AM CST 1-16-12 (12:22 UT), 8″ reflector telescope, 25mm eyepiece, very close to being directly south in my sky.
Below: 8:09 AM CST 1-17-12 (14:09 UT), 8″ reflector telescope, 25mm eyepiece, in my south-southwestern sky.

All with LG VX8360 cell phone camera. Click for larger view.

Above: A closeup of the east central portion of the Moon at 5:36
AM CST 1-10-12 (11:36 UT). The dark area at top is the Sea of Tranquility, the dark area adjoining it to the lower right is the Sea of Fertility. The two most prominent craters near the terminator are Langrenus (in the Sea of Fertility), and Petavius to the south. 8″ reflector telescope, 25mm eyepiece, 2x Barlow.

Below: I love the hues of the sky in deepening twilight, and Venus will be an ever more radiant part of the western sky after sunset for the next few months. Here are three quick snapshots of the southwestern sky, which I took through a window at the manufacturing plant where I work.

5:25 PM 1-9-10:

5:26 PM:

5:41 PM:

As of 1-10-12, T-Minus 147 days until the 2012 Venus Transit.

All with LG VX8360 cell phone camera. Click for larger view.

Below: For comparison, a rerun of my photo from 3:23 AM CDT 4-14-11 (8:23 UT), 8″ reflector telescope, 17mm eyepiece, 2x Barlow (191x magnification). At that time Saturn had just passed opposition and was a “mere” 810,570,000 miles from Earth (1,304,487,000 km), with an angular diameter of 18.97 arc seconds.

Above: Venus shining in the southwestern sky after sunset, 5:31 PM CST 1-7-12. Each night Venus is a bit brighter and higher. As of 1-8-12, T-Minus 149 days until the Venus Transit of 2012.

Above: 8:21 PM CST 1-7-12 (2:21 UT 1-8-12), 60mm refractor telescope, 17mm eyepiece.
Below: 6:01 AM CST 1-8-12 (12:01 UT), 8″ reflector telescope, 25mm eyepiece.

Above: Interesting what you might see on the back of a semi trailer. I wonder how many motorists have a clue what it’s about?

All with LG VX8360 cell phone camera, perfect for capturing small moments in the history of the Universe. Click for larger view.

	2:37 PM CST January 5, 2012 (20:37 UT) Angular diameter 13.19 arc seconds 81.6% illumination Distance from Earth 117,572,894 miles (189,215,232 km)
	2:21 PM CST November 29, 2011 (20:21 UT) Angular diameter 11.46 arc seconds 89.5% illumination Distance from Earth 135,265,885 miles (217,689,541 km)
	4:18 PM CST November 20, 2011 (22:18 UT) Angular diameter 11.13 arc seconds 91.2% illumination Distance from Earth 139,346,992 miles (227,254,246 km)
	12:03 PM CST January 5, 2011 (18:03 UTC) Angular diameter 25.58 arc seconds 48.6% illumination Distance from Earth 60,611,164 miles (97,544,214 km)
	10:02 AM CST November 27, 2010 (16:02 UTC) Angular diameter 44.72 arc seconds 20.6% illumination Distance from Earth 34,669,885 miles (55,795,771 km)
	12:40 PM CDT (17:40 UTC), November 5, 2010 Angular diameter 59.94 arc seconds 2.4% illumination Distance from Earth 25,866,740 miles (41,628,483 km)

Unless otherwise noted, 8″ reflector telescope, 25mm eyepiece, LG VX8360 cell phone camera.

Above: Southern regions of the Moon, 7:13 PM CST 1-2-12 (1:13 UT 1-3-12).
Below: 11:55 PM CST 1-2-12 (5:55 UT 1-3-12). Both with 25mm eyepiece and 2x Barlow.

These photos of Clavius are excerpted from the two photos above. Note the lightening interior of Clavius over the course of a few hours.

I’ve made the happy discovery that when the Moon is at or close to apogee (its furthest distance from Earth), that I can just fit into the view with my 17mm eyepiece! Next time, though, I’ll remember to turn the brightness level down. 12:13 AM 1-4-12 (6:13 UT), 17mm eyepiece. All with 8″ reflector telescope and LG VX8360 cell phone camera. Click for larger view.

Many dramatic celestial events are coming up this year, including a resplendent conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in March; a partial solar eclipse in May (annular in certain places, but not here); and the transit of Venus across the Sun on June 5/6. And in less than a year we will have conclusive empirical evidence of whether the world as we know it is coming to end this year, though you can see just how excited I’m getting about it. :O)

Meanwhile, I’ll continue to use my dusty, trusty telescope and pocket camera in the best way I know how, to build a simple, authentic, honest record of “small moments in the history of the universe,” with a few additional thoughts and observations along the way. Speaking of “small moments,” below, Pluto looks like he’s fallen asleep listening to his favorite tunes, 10:57 PM on New Year’s Eve. Happy New Year, and YHWH’s richest blessings to all!