tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75203103665978660362024-03-18T16:25:39.731-07:00Necessary FactsObservations, reports, and discoveries that are true of necessity
because they are perceivable and reasonable,
empirical and logical, evidentiary and rational,
synthetic and analytic.
Truths are objective statements.Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.comBlogger809125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-17684949318691314932024-03-17T12:42:00.000-07:002024-03-17T12:47:04.476-07:00 Fossils and Stars<div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b>FOSSILS AND STARS</b></span></div><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGQfLU7z3LbDoji6Cwky3TORiXxzAiHJNTlE_u6aq7W8LRooDeYHqIQwGS_SJQpAj150m5jW-wjTehqpwPTxFosLObG8tqVLXN2wemO03N1-szWuDHjQp4z55x2pCYZMglR9UzsJe1BiUrTBXJPi1cAHkCDVoWbKeh_8jeqtKiZHZDIxCxNJdu9ex1dw3u/s4032/Museum%20Paleo%20-%201%20copy.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGQfLU7z3LbDoji6Cwky3TORiXxzAiHJNTlE_u6aq7W8LRooDeYHqIQwGS_SJQpAj150m5jW-wjTehqpwPTxFosLObG8tqVLXN2wemO03N1-szWuDHjQp4z55x2pCYZMglR9UzsJe1BiUrTBXJPi1cAHkCDVoWbKeh_8jeqtKiZHZDIxCxNJdu9ex1dw3u/w468-h351/Museum%20Paleo%20-%201%20copy.jpeg" width="468" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Texas Science and Natural History Museum <br />held its 85th anniversary birthday party <br />on Sunday 21 January 2024 and we were happy to attend. <br />Invitees were encouraged to bring <br />their fossils and many did. <br />Museum Assistant Director Pamela Owen and <br />Education Coordinator Miriam Nouri identified them for us.</span><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv42ZAItalxT8xBaG7WqBlIb9qlDrg1xsQvk51_86BvMvPcqbO9BJh-zkxd-Z4A61QFXPvXm1H7gB4sfOvumoPGhT8GZGAJIaoEe0UwtbuIRNuV0fnNqHKodIp1mE-v_4Ntbu1ESL8z5BpVwQhubrV3ce5j5_D_5AmXT3W3XgG6GWXtk4LGvzLHBIDMaeQ/s4032/Museum%20Paleo%20-%203%20copy.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv42ZAItalxT8xBaG7WqBlIb9qlDrg1xsQvk51_86BvMvPcqbO9BJh-zkxd-Z4A61QFXPvXm1H7gB4sfOvumoPGhT8GZGAJIaoEe0UwtbuIRNuV0fnNqHKodIp1mE-v_4Ntbu1ESL8z5BpVwQhubrV3ce5j5_D_5AmXT3W3XgG6GWXtk4LGvzLHBIDMaeQ/w355-h473/Museum%20Paleo%20-%203%20copy.jpeg" width="355" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I bought the ammonite (black) at the Cincinnati Museum <br />of Natural History and Science back<br />in the 20th century. I lost the tag long ago and<br />did not know what it was. I was surprised to learn that <br />this is something that I know in its more common format.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe180cu-KvtIRapy5WUokqZ0_mtkJF1oSi3RNOf5HoQnFIvXymOmOSEhy603sX9Dp0I84qBrjsgMMU3J5Kkn-TpFJ9uid3woD3VL8xY8d5YbhHCVuEMUr4Tdi9PqMbErHjkv988zldnAOj3WLxfjLcV9QdWxVpYK1rTq2UzF_AHUSIkdvVHt64aPAgaslI/s2239/Messier%2079%20Jan%2027%202024%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="2239" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe180cu-KvtIRapy5WUokqZ0_mtkJF1oSi3RNOf5HoQnFIvXymOmOSEhy603sX9Dp0I84qBrjsgMMU3J5Kkn-TpFJ9uid3woD3VL8xY8d5YbhHCVuEMUr4Tdi9PqMbErHjkv988zldnAOj3WLxfjLcV9QdWxVpYK1rTq2UzF_AHUSIkdvVHt64aPAgaslI/w499-h209/Messier%2079%20Jan%2027%202024%20copy.jpg" width="499" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On 27 January 2024, I found Messier 79 in Lepus.<br /></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJTHpta5I6AEw0gBf2AkoEaFQeow0bctSnDCWT9sd2W4UHdSQjCtg0oNOLV3DM0rGdtorNEXs021ipkwn03jQ-jI9VWpAAvsmcDt0k5fvjPiz2IhPuFQTI5sLQ3xCU40Yv-jPw6J6_P5FxWGd74ryyCwoEcaBvBcwC4v_2HchcudWHAsoZgGyDid6hfrG6/s2494/Meissa%20Lambda%20Orionis.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2029" data-original-width="2494" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJTHpta5I6AEw0gBf2AkoEaFQeow0bctSnDCWT9sd2W4UHdSQjCtg0oNOLV3DM0rGdtorNEXs021ipkwn03jQ-jI9VWpAAvsmcDt0k5fvjPiz2IhPuFQTI5sLQ3xCU40Yv-jPw6J6_P5FxWGd74ryyCwoEcaBvBcwC4v_2HchcudWHAsoZgGyDid6hfrG6/w459-h373/Meissa%20Lambda%20Orionis.jpg" width="459" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Orion is a rich area of the sky and is near the meridian<br />for most of the winter from late November to mid-March.<br />Here, I sketched the stars marking the head of the Giant.<br /></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2014/02/fossils-and-behaviors.html" target="_blank">Fossils and Behaviors</a> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2016/03/before-darwin.html" target="_blank">Before Darwin</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2023/08/pedernales-falls-public-star-party-12.html" target="_blank">Pedernales Falls Public Star Party</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2023/06/globular-clusters.html" target="_blank">Globular Clusters</a> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-2470101337133067482024-02-11T16:19:00.000-08:002024-02-11T18:57:54.549-08:00 Goudy by Bernard Lewis and Goudy in His Own Words<p><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Twice Frederic W. Goudy lost his life work to fires that destroyed his offices and workshops. Disheartening as they must have been, we have not much in his own words about the affects. He regained his equilibrium by focusing on the immediate work and then continuing with the projects that had been interrupted. </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Much of</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Behind the Type: The Life Story of Frederic W. Goudy</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwdwNjdutheqsQbKW-YPXepAhLL42QNbzdNpUgobgEF2kNi0JbLFPCOtdtitiFwJO4RJsrXKPNkaxYXAlr_iy_-c-qzgm5BzSWuCGdtecU68sG46TKc5x56zdJk46zNRfdi67SdjayxUkz0Pki2flO5dX9d_ckrjhTRgJIOOTlyuiGS3e1sQKbaVa6a8Q/s2774/Goudy%20Four.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2774" data-original-width="1880" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwdwNjdutheqsQbKW-YPXepAhLL42QNbzdNpUgobgEF2kNi0JbLFPCOtdtitiFwJO4RJsrXKPNkaxYXAlr_iy_-c-qzgm5BzSWuCGdtecU68sG46TKc5x56zdJk46zNRfdi67SdjayxUkz0Pki2flO5dX9d_ckrjhTRgJIOOTlyuiGS3e1sQKbaVa6a8Q/w271-h400/Goudy%20Four.png" width="271" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: left;"><b><i>Behind the Type: <br />The Life Story of Frederic W. Goudy</i></b><b> <br />by Bernard Lewis . <br /></b></span><b style="font-family: -webkit-standard; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Issued by the Department of Printing, <br />Carnegie Institute of Technology, <br />Pittsburgh, 1941.</span></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">by Bernard Lewis would be considered creative non-fiction today. It was the style of the times for biographers to add dimension and color to the recorded facts. Born on March 8, 1865, Goudy’s early life lessons came in small towns in Illinois and the Dakota Territory. Even before he left home, he was a salesman, an impresario, an entrepreneur. So, some of this story came from contemporary newspaper accounts written by Goudy or about him but there is little of that in the opening scenes that introduce us to the child and the teenager.</span></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“The year before [when he was seventeen], he had exhibited a copy of a wood engraving from one of the current magazines in the Shelbyville County Fair and had won first prize, earning an award of three dollars and a blue ribbon. To any who congratulated him he observed that there was little competition, but he admitted that he had a good eye and copied well. And to prove it he repeated another prize performance at the next annual fair.” (p. 14-15).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">He often worked as a bookkeeper typically for real estate companies that were transient themselves, even when he was not. He had little patience for ineptitude or idleness and until he discovered typography, he let his natural curiosity take him to an array of ventures, such as the Anglo-Dakota Loan and Trust Company when he was 23. All of those experiences eventually served him well when he matured into the career that made him famous to us. Even so, his path in printing and typography was halting with changes in direction at each station. His sense of personal purpose complemented his artistic sentiments and Goudy continued to develop the aesthetic motives that defined his commercial projects.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“In printing the <i>Chapbook</i> Goudy engineered a simple stunt that amazed printers and made him the subject of much discussion. He at first could find no type suitable for printing the <i>Chapbook </i>because of its small size, but after taking measurements he ordered nine point “Original Old Style” cast on an eight point body, achieving admirably close fitting type.” (p. 36-37). </span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjslkaWaJ52nUczmkUKObDpYvgZBukDKnJpJVgOn33kURXwM02oKPW0RG2tKCFKqURLJiUufbMBA-l9L6thBb8NMDbKWVtqY3LlvQCI2JkQDJxrsr3Os_4-dZei0r4pG0_xta1ysTiANFz-MCEgp53u5R9PSFZtuLbnSwMl3nxJmQYAkijo66gJlNG5TAmk/s1798/Goudy%20Three.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1215" data-original-width="1798" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjslkaWaJ52nUczmkUKObDpYvgZBukDKnJpJVgOn33kURXwM02oKPW0RG2tKCFKqURLJiUufbMBA-l9L6thBb8NMDbKWVtqY3LlvQCI2JkQDJxrsr3Os_4-dZei0r4pG0_xta1ysTiANFz-MCEgp53u5R9PSFZtuLbnSwMl3nxJmQYAkijo66gJlNG5TAmk/s320/Goudy%20Three.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b><i>The Alphabet and Elements of Lettering</i> <br />by Frederic W. Goudy. <br />University of California Press, 1942.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">That success changed the name of his firm from Booklet Press to Camelot Press when he moved to the center of the printing district in Chicago. </span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Goudy is remembered for adapting the line weights, curves, stems, and serifs of Renaissance hand lettering to modern printing. That is shallow and wrong. He was not a copyist. Goudy studied the best of the previous designs in order to understand why they worked. In his essay, “The Ethics and Aesthetics of Type and Typography: An address delivered at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, February 12, 1938,” he said: <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia;">“There was a time in the golden age of type design when a page decoration, a head-piece, a fleuron, a new type face might have proved a key to typographic distinction because it was recognized as the work of a master and respected accordingly. But by this I do not intend to imply that deference must necessarily be given to old types or old work of little merit because they are old. Many, unfortunately, possess shortcomings even as those of later vintage. Yet even the best of the old types should not be revived, imitated, adapted, reproduced, or copied for present day use with camera-like fidelity—prima facie evidence of modern poverty of invention (or mental laziness). The originals had matchless charm because they were stamped with the personality of their makers. The reproductions invariably lack the spirit of idealism of the originators and cannot fail to betray the fact that the faker can never do entire justice to the distinctive qualities that made the original designs great.”</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Goudy could have been speaking for his comtemporary, Ayn Rand's Howard Roark, when he complained of typographers who produce copies of copies of copies (<i>The Alphabet</i>, page 50n.) </span></p><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2023/09/absurd.html" target="_blank">On Second Thought</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-universe-of-1962.html" target="_blank">The Universe of 1962</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/08/my-armadillocon-presentations.html" target="_blank">My Armadillocon Presentations</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2019/05/regimental-public-affairs-officer.html" target="_blank">Regimental Public Affairs Officer</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></p></div>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-769786104003808152024-01-30T13:58:00.000-08:002024-01-30T14:35:15.364-08:00Frederic W. Goudy by Peter Beilenson<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">I wish that this story were more interesting. I am willing to believe that the life of Frederic W. Goudy was prosaic and yet could be made heart-pounding. In this case, the complete lack of examples only delivered a dinner speech for those already in the know. Fonts and faces are cited by name and they are described as heavy or full but not strong and so on, none of which delivers a tenable image.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHEhdR-NEDtug9psb05PgSN5QfJe_WYoVR-ZhUg3ifWXJIFFut7yg_FIEbSsyjkq5DPghYK_ZN9ogupqF3hoPtxGwFv7CukE90Kwt3tdDYpeJJmFOFx5djOUaKdRLp-geGqLc31wuaH_B3gukkx2J9EHmD8u1U1F0LrS3PyjCwcJ1vzhSxDoZOztsFZPoD/s654/18-point%20Goudy%20Old%20Style.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="654" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHEhdR-NEDtug9psb05PgSN5QfJe_WYoVR-ZhUg3ifWXJIFFut7yg_FIEbSsyjkq5DPghYK_ZN9ogupqF3hoPtxGwFv7CukE90Kwt3tdDYpeJJmFOFx5djOUaKdRLp-geGqLc31wuaH_B3gukkx2J9EHmD8u1U1F0LrS3PyjCwcJ1vzhSxDoZOztsFZPoD/w400-h210/18-point%20Goudy%20Old%20Style.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHrUOHDg0kJOUMiUoW6CGgfBxU9zRI80WRB_a7WlUINiucFA4LN-DgDSdPTqx8IrdzZhkgF4GZz-qpe0fPLGp9M7d02A3IYfPxL0gyMVatZ9eyhGhfLFVezxFXJOqtK-xa3chID5MeoHMDHkNOx4ZIaEhHbrMl0OsQ1S_mpMgTfxDjT1EBNs3R4lVaU8V4/s1881/Goudy%20Tribute%20Beilenson.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1881" data-original-width="994" height="615" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHrUOHDg0kJOUMiUoW6CGgfBxU9zRI80WRB_a7WlUINiucFA4LN-DgDSdPTqx8IrdzZhkgF4GZz-qpe0fPLGp9M7d02A3IYfPxL0gyMVatZ9eyhGhfLFVezxFXJOqtK-xa3chID5MeoHMDHkNOx4ZIaEhHbrMl0OsQ1S_mpMgTfxDjT1EBNs3R4lVaU8V4/w325-h615/Goudy%20Tribute%20Beilenson.jpg" width="325" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>Composed in Village No. 2 by <br />the Lanston Monotype Machine Co. <br />of Philadelphia. Printed by Walpole Printing.<br />Paper from Quincy P. Emery. Bound by <br />Russell-Rutter. 300 copies made.</b></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs2vfzjYBcjhqa8dPXztyOaGbr201B3UBnI81dPg2t5w3ANCEYfGIObgveGNPLvA_Uz5curA4QSlN5MFe6sVWxOQEphKav4ET-IX-2qFv2Pb4QXrhAf5FjF-8gPY5OcE9LY8bzTfjBXCsTjSB2h3IsPNFnS7Gl9RpZtz79h_tGzyfGxDvjqsoJB3bv1MHR/s7217/Goudy_Type_Family.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="7217" data-original-width="4810" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs2vfzjYBcjhqa8dPXztyOaGbr201B3UBnI81dPg2t5w3ANCEYfGIObgveGNPLvA_Uz5curA4QSlN5MFe6sVWxOQEphKav4ET-IX-2qFv2Pb4QXrhAf5FjF-8gPY5OcE9LY8bzTfjBXCsTjSB2h3IsPNFnS7Gl9RpZtz79h_tGzyfGxDvjqsoJB3bv1MHR/w302-h454/Goudy_Type_Family.jpg" width="302" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="text-align: left;">Attribution: </span><span style="text-align: left;">American Type Founders. <br />Digitisation is public-domain.via Wikimedia Commons</span></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2023/08/armadillocon-45.html" target="_blank">Armadillocon 45</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/08/armadillocon-44-part-2.html" target="_blank">Armadilloncon 44 Part 2</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2018/08/armadillocon-40-part-1.html" target="_blank">Armadillocon 40 Part 1</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2017/08/armadillocon-39.html" target="_blank">Armadillocon 39</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-90099511054831252242024-01-14T04:26:00.000-08:002024-01-14T19:45:56.785-08:00Words into Type<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sir Robert worked hard and well to make himself a king and then wanted to unite his realm under a single banner. So, he called his vassals into his great hall where they stood with their shields, escutcheons, and crests. Looking out over the array, he said, “The nice thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from.” (That fable was in a computer magazine from about 1987.) </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Helvetica;"></span></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHivGlhcc6TrouNrtsekQbKRGmRsNOzpKnweyW7eZi278lgWdKlv_xaAnN9BOFOK64nkWO9RsParloy6JHzIzGIjpHpgcYqKbbLY14HU5Fz1BIezYBxCpXKQgdOaqqbWgRCKEhK1m6ATenjfZDlvH-ua2fpZ9lXM0y45xyFe29C5tXwSRMUZIVPFEe17EL/s1564/Romans.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="773" data-original-width="1564" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHivGlhcc6TrouNrtsekQbKRGmRsNOzpKnweyW7eZi278lgWdKlv_xaAnN9BOFOK64nkWO9RsParloy6JHzIzGIjpHpgcYqKbbLY14HU5Fz1BIezYBxCpXKQgdOaqqbWgRCKEhK1m6ATenjfZDlvH-ua2fpZ9lXM0y45xyFe29C5tXwSRMUZIVPFEe17EL/w400-h198/Romans.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;"><i>A.T.A. Type Comparison Book</i> by Frank Merriman.<br />Advertising Typographers Association of American, Inc. 1965.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I consider</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">The Chicago Manual of Style</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">to be the baseline. It is easy, direct, and common for American English. That volume is in my wife’s office. She edited over a hundred books for Bantam-Doubleday Dell and has several other style guides on her shelf. I have</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">Chicago’s</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">origin,</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">by Kate L. Turabian, fifth edition revised and expanded by Bonnie Birtwistle Honigsblum, University of Chicago Press, 1987. Unless otherwise directed, I turn to that first.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWelvL337pAYC7gX2u9QXDObwZP419zq8Q1BtJM5Qdn3_ykmlEgMhWcwaXJ-dno22a7tAstrri7HBnSPELqinAd7BNEGFmMXzNx9KerkDHUBHmHJmLvm9ElnvNckNIxJbvicrGbDNr3qSTuB8KXZqevSzmTMiwdIKFi7202xTUVGmswSSjQFXAOVFePxcZ/s1587/Gothics.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="1587" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWelvL337pAYC7gX2u9QXDObwZP419zq8Q1BtJM5Qdn3_ykmlEgMhWcwaXJ-dno22a7tAstrri7HBnSPELqinAd7BNEGFmMXzNx9KerkDHUBHmHJmLvm9ElnvNckNIxJbvicrGbDNr3qSTuB8KXZqevSzmTMiwdIKFi7202xTUVGmswSSjQFXAOVFePxcZ/w400-h156/Gothics.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><i>A.T.A. Type Comparison Book</i> by Frank Merriman.<br />Advertising Typographers Association of American, Inc. 1965.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">When I worked at <i>Coin World</i> newspaper, we were given our own copies of the <i>Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual.</i> It was a revelation to learn what a newspaper can be sued for. The truth is not always a defense in a court of law. In Michigan, it is and that was written into the state constitution.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBKMu_k40d3cCTRuPdlb7AXo16IS9L2I2UMI4Ht-f4uv5Oyw_Sd-oMmFS14qUmPQ1VDylpxQw8GHQWlmpctTt9h9oa8d0isEslJMBVhWjPhFnCgZu0RMBYA9nmX4m6z-PtsNq4UEe6PcN1SM-igJSejsqFLpo5BOdpTo9wqlRIS4q2Vbw6hc0Y03IfD01g/s511/Herculanum%20and%20Harrington.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="170" data-original-width="511" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBKMu_k40d3cCTRuPdlb7AXo16IS9L2I2UMI4Ht-f4uv5Oyw_Sd-oMmFS14qUmPQ1VDylpxQw8GHQWlmpctTt9h9oa8d0isEslJMBVhWjPhFnCgZu0RMBYA9nmX4m6z-PtsNq4UEe6PcN1SM-igJSejsqFLpo5BOdpTo9wqlRIS4q2Vbw6hc0Y03IfD01g/s320/Herculanum%20and%20Harrington.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Microsoft PowerPoint</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">For science writing, I have the <i>Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fourth edition</i>, 1994. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The book that taught me first was <i>Strunk & White’s Elements of Style</i>. I still open it for random reminders and I pick up used copies to give to people who tell me that they want to be writers. But OMG it is over a century old. OTOH, the best style is conservative. Of course, YMMV. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfcu1jGhxwGJo0t1fSAivt-6aDIofGTrEOXugCetHSmOJOl2vR3sknygGZwFd4sgB82mmSP_dgDsYY8yTUTVv5VKcaXbzoCp3bED6YnpB9pwrrERokc6d4OXtuP-Xv_Qd7vIUDuPDcEI047z_xnhLA4J8ZzH5sJxFQ01xALZuoxc-2jn6NWY4VsYWZPVS0/s1546/Three%20Dimensionals.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="1546" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfcu1jGhxwGJo0t1fSAivt-6aDIofGTrEOXugCetHSmOJOl2vR3sknygGZwFd4sgB82mmSP_dgDsYY8yTUTVv5VKcaXbzoCp3bED6YnpB9pwrrERokc6d4OXtuP-Xv_Qd7vIUDuPDcEI047z_xnhLA4J8ZzH5sJxFQ01xALZuoxc-2jn6NWY4VsYWZPVS0/w400-h173/Three%20Dimensionals.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A.T.A. Type Comparison Book</i> by Frank Merriman.<br />Advertising Typographers Association of American, Inc. 1965.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On that basis, I was happy to find <i>Modern English Handbook, Third Edition</i> by Robert M. Gorrell and Charlton Laird, Prentice-Hall, 1962. I bought it for 50 cents in 2001. It was the textbook for 12<sup>th</sup> graders at Cleveland’s Lincoln High School when I was in the ninth and tenth grades 1964-65 and also on the staff of the school newspaper. My first journalism class was an eighth grade elective, but junior high pupils were not allowed to work on the <i>Lincoln Log</i>. At that time, I also had printing as a shop class elective. The <i>Lincoln Log </i>was not a school product but was contracted to a commercial printer which produced other school and community newspapers. With large ethnic commu</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">nities, Cleveland had weekly papers in German, Hungarian, and other languages.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQb9LmTc9pb4O8MvKi58mNWf8WaAvmT96tSeHlDTQuhBM8gTnRR7A5q7Ibxpau_qnD0pWec6RM9Uqo0RTyKYo-YK3HENWySuqUlP20SJ1SKd6VJPgFujlvt96kcKGtOglhDn-W3hwyzSLvpuRyR_lS31JjCQe9Y6uB6DwczLOVluntlSAGIlcHZ6qNt5qN/s1477/Century%20Schoolbook.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="1477" height="45" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQb9LmTc9pb4O8MvKi58mNWf8WaAvmT96tSeHlDTQuhBM8gTnRR7A5q7Ibxpau_qnD0pWec6RM9Uqo0RTyKYo-YK3HENWySuqUlP20SJ1SKd6VJPgFujlvt96kcKGtOglhDn-W3hwyzSLvpuRyR_lS31JjCQe9Y6uB6DwczLOVluntlSAGIlcHZ6qNt5qN/w400-h45/Century%20Schoolbook.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A.T.A. Type Comparison Book</i> by Frank Merriman.<br />Advertising Typographers Association of American, Inc. 1965.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /> </span></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPMM9VyzeQl0K1nEYeSCZ6M_XMtaUUBUhg7MfHdVzVZvxh2r4zF8GhHwZhhVpRn5jgPCngYtHARE1jSPUDu9GMLU0LYRUaxfXfr9vnl8neoONm65Ou22qF-jMHDlswS9KeMUQ9kL3b9KQfh_2JKmriEbRTDlSEpCS0GLVAlv4T03TJH8u372HAwFi8D6LH/s2795/typewords2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2795" data-original-width="1801" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPMM9VyzeQl0K1nEYeSCZ6M_XMtaUUBUhg7MfHdVzVZvxh2r4zF8GhHwZhhVpRn5jgPCngYtHARE1jSPUDu9GMLU0LYRUaxfXfr9vnl8neoONm65Ou22qF-jMHDlswS9KeMUQ9kL3b9KQfh_2JKmriEbRTDlSEpCS0GLVAlv4T03TJH8u372HAwFi8D6LH/w258-h400/typewords2.jpg" width="258" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I actually never used <i>Words into Type</i>. It is in Laurel’s office. I just liked the phrase as a descriptive title for this blog entry. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Accepted as an assistant editor for <i>This Month in Astronomical History</i>, an online publication of the Historical Astronomy Division of the American Astronomical Society, I was promoted early to editor in the wake of the Covid crisis. Considering that my degrees are in criminology and social science, and that I am an Amateur Affiliate member of the AAS, it is an honor and privilege to be responsible for fact-checking, as well as grammar, syntax, and style. I collaborate with subject matter experts, researchers, faculty, and other astronomers. I recruit writers and also write features to fulfill the editorial calendar of monthly columns. I report to a senior editorial team that is chosen biannually. Find the series here: <a href="https://had.aas.org/resources/astro-history" style="color: #954f72;" target="_blank">https://had.aas.org/resources/astro-history</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVs3_XmQEf0gt2H1ZF0RQqIKw56NctMErJLca9FcvycD7BNr2ZOlARNw-Z-JRvpC0SAVoirLfAu_cOXXQXiGDaZf-4VyV_TD0PWN3b1WmvIZ-eH1mzNLIpGeoAFUuwG9xg_HkdWnJH4ZMla_4Tu0CiQX0gQrRC87bvYmhfutFxpajoRXxCcTJOMlZaX27-/s1535/Modern%20Ornamented.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="1535" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVs3_XmQEf0gt2H1ZF0RQqIKw56NctMErJLca9FcvycD7BNr2ZOlARNw-Z-JRvpC0SAVoirLfAu_cOXXQXiGDaZf-4VyV_TD0PWN3b1WmvIZ-eH1mzNLIpGeoAFUuwG9xg_HkdWnJH4ZMla_4Tu0CiQX0gQrRC87bvYmhfutFxpajoRXxCcTJOMlZaX27-/w400-h139/Modern%20Ornamented.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A.T.A. Type Comparison Book</i> by Frank Merriman.<br />Advertising Typographers Association of American, Inc. 1965.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">I developed a style guide for HAD’s TMIAH. (Use endnotes not footnotes. The ampersand is not a word.) For AAS writing, the foundation is the style guide of the American Physical Society. However, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar amended that when he served as editor of the </span><i style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Astrophysical Journal</i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> (1952-1971). That perturbing force sent the AAS into a different path. Just for one example, we do not require that manuscripts be submitted in TeX/LaTeX.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jHtRxNsBHxUcqWS5h53tmqXQcn11YtRp96eLTt9den5zggaivi8t6DeJ0jNBLp5vwkrGc-f5XHbNVutJaShqQDIwqdaaeTvS-c5SBLCkMuzWHjKhhHJ6JIOiHnM5v6Or-gmCVgI9HXzoGKljX8ALJyzdRA_PbhPp1Lqa7HjcqcphQZm1EG31QA3RZgtL/s1643/Ornamentals.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="1643" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jHtRxNsBHxUcqWS5h53tmqXQcn11YtRp96eLTt9den5zggaivi8t6DeJ0jNBLp5vwkrGc-f5XHbNVutJaShqQDIwqdaaeTvS-c5SBLCkMuzWHjKhhHJ6JIOiHnM5v6Or-gmCVgI9HXzoGKljX8ALJyzdRA_PbhPp1Lqa7HjcqcphQZm1EG31QA3RZgtL/w400-h181/Ornamentals.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A.T.A. Type Comparison Book</i> by Frank Merriman.<br />Advertising Typographers Association of American, Inc. 1965.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">I learned Donald Knuth’s programming language for typesetting mathematics publications back in 1985 when I was taking computer classes and teaching technical writing at Lansing Community College. The Arts and Sciences Division acquired a DEC VAX 11/785 and interactive terminals, overcoming the objections of the Business Division with their IBM 360 mainframe and punched cards in Cobol and RPG. I served as the editor of the newsletter of the DECUS chapter. I then worked as a technical writer for a medical information firm whose previous technical writer had the insight to acquire TeX. Consequently, I have almost 40 years of experience with HTML.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/03/start-presses.html" target="_blank">Start the Presses!</a> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/01/art-copy.html" target="_blank">Art & Copy</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2012/06/art-as-ordered-narrative.html" target="_blank">Art as Ordered Narrative</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2011/07/innovation-and-discovery.html" target="_blank">Innovation and Discovery</a> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2017/09/for-glory-of-old-lincoln-high.html" target="_blank">For the Glory of Old Lincoln High</a></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p></div>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-49962258765473606202024-01-13T14:18:00.000-08:002024-01-14T02:12:46.928-08:00LOST IN TRANSLATION<p><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ltF7P93G4b5avOv_J3uHXn6AEhFU79Tgskr3u4pk06MA9jhIJdaeeBlNREWlTWC2fUG5he10Eu7sJQcq3qRILFNXwWxzO-kaz6JpGLWtfB-rb2iDqjP0Le0Af87EZ3cxSU2o-AK0DIDa-andQsKME1awyibrGERk2zM1T33miixVhx-X_a9ag5EM599M/s1792/Lost%20in%20the%20Translation%20-%202%20copy.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1792" data-original-width="828" height="463" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ltF7P93G4b5avOv_J3uHXn6AEhFU79Tgskr3u4pk06MA9jhIJdaeeBlNREWlTWC2fUG5he10Eu7sJQcq3qRILFNXwWxzO-kaz6JpGLWtfB-rb2iDqjP0Le0Af87EZ3cxSU2o-AK0DIDa-andQsKME1awyibrGERk2zM1T33miixVhx-X_a9ag5EM599M/w214-h463/Lost%20in%20the%20Translation%20-%202%20copy.jpeg" width="214" /></a></span></b></div><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;">Hola Yeah, mama was kill, but I record our child. I'll find appointment wait I'm in bed for stuff on your list and at Quadro qua de la Carte look at Santos on moose. If they are Jagger, semi not Santos de audio programmed required for Seguro identification Conforto, El Pago un they may come into actual, El Pago un they may come into actual actual</span></b><p></p><p><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;">Was this transcription useful or not useful?</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">(This was the Spanish translation of an original voicemail message with an accurate English transcription. It was from a doctor's office confirming an appointment. The only glitch in that, going back three years, is that it speaks "Covid-19" as C-O-V ... I-D nineteen.") </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Machines that mimic life originated in Alexandria about 100 BC to 100 AD. The initial input was a coin dropped into a slot and the result was a spoken prayer. In the Middle Ages, certain entrepreneurs seeking patronage built mechanical chickens that ground grain and water into exrement. Windmills and water mills worked at more productive tasks. (See L. Sprague de Camp's<i> Ancient Engineers</i>.) </span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Jacquard machine and the steam engine created the context for Edward Bellamy's <i>Looking Backward, </i>Thea von Harbou's <i>Metropolis, </i>and then Aldous Huxley's <i>Brave New World.</i> The dream was the nightmare.</span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div><span style="background-color: #fcff01; font-family: georgia;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 15.4px;">On the Cloudy Nights discussion board, which is mostly dedicated to chat about observational astronomy, in the forum for “Science! Astronomy, Space Exploration, and Others,” a topic title was the question <b>“What can’t artificial intelligence do?”</b></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 15.4px;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 15.4px;"> </span><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 15.4px;">The introductory post started: <b>“</b></span><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 15.4px;"><b>We have made machines that can play chess better than we can. We are close to making machines that can write novels better than we can. Threshold question. Is there a limit? I can see no reason that there should be. The interesting question. What happens when we can make machines that can do everything better than we can?”</b> In 100 replies, I was the only person who pointed out that while an AI could write a better novel, the novel itself was an invention.</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-size: 15.4px;"><span style="color: #222222;"> I received just one "like" for the comment. (On <i>NecessaryFacts</i> </span><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2023/06/invisible-cheating-and-visible-rights.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #800180;"><b>here</b></span></a><span style="color: #222222;">.)</span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Eliza computer program took your input, parsed it into a question, and then carried on a conversation with you. The program was created in the mid-1960s by Joseph Weizenbaum as an example of what natural language computing could be capable of. He was shocked to find people actually conversing seriously with the program, opening up to it about their personal lives. (See<i> Computer Power and Human Reason</i>.) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2023/05/bsides-austin-2023.html" target="_blank">BSides Austin 2023</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2012/09/documentation-is-specification.html" target="_blank">Documentation is Specification</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2015/10/ruby-methods-ruby-way.html" target="_blank">Ruby Methods the Ruby Way</a> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2012/05/john-kemeny-knew-we-shall-have-computed.html" target="_blank">John Kemeny Knew: We Shall Have Computed</a> </span></b></p><p><br /></p></div></div>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-84171452484930173882024-01-06T02:01:00.000-08:002024-01-13T13:27:55.620-08:00 A Musical Joke<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">I found the book by serendipity, misshelved among works on Typography in the UT Fine Arts Library. I brought it home and then opened it to read:</span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“I often find that the humorous, joking aspect of music is missing in many performances, even in those of accomplished artists. It seems that people feel uncomfortable allowing the great wok of music to be anything but sublimely serious.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“… crescendo does not automatically mean either agitato or accelerando. In many cases, quite to the contrary crescendo is an indication of the music becoming broader, more majestic, more dignified. If an alteration of timing is justified, such instances may call for allargando rather than an accelerando. Similarly, diminuendo should not always be taken as an indication of calming down, connected with rallentando. I can think of many examples of diminuendo that indicate, in fact, an increase of activity, albeit of a fantastic, visionary order, sometimes accompanied by an accelerando (see passages in a variety of works by Scriabin, for example).”<b> Boris Berman, <i>Notes from the Pianist’s Bench</i>, Yale University Press, 2000, pages 146-149, <i>passim</i>.</b></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: georgia;">About 1988 or so, as a local newspaper reporter, I attended a concert duet for harp and voice. It was nice and all, a range from “classical” (perhaps Bach and others much later), and at least one modern piece, probably two. The last was “The Owl & the Pussy Cat.” I did not know the piece then and had to search for it now. It was the Edward Lear poem. I am not sure if the music was Stravinsky or another. The audience did not entirely suppress its giggles as the soloist sang about her lovely pussy. Not knowing the Lear poem, I, too, was surprised but having grown up with the Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of George Szell and his assistants, Louis Lane and Robert Shaw, I learned well to suppress all emotions while in the audience. After the concert, the harpist replied something like, “Nonsense. After all doesn’t ‘scherzo’ mean ‘joke’?” A light went on – Es gang mir ein Licht an: In German, das Scherz means “joke.” The word must have come from Italian because the Germans would never have invented the word on their own.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Well, that’s not quite fair. Google “Haydn joke” - <i>https://www.therightnotes.org/haydn-s-humour.html </i>Other composers also used the unexpected to surprise the audience. For one thing, from the chamber music of the Enlightenment to the huge civic halls of our time, many of the listeners are players if not performers themselves. When the Beethoven Sonata op. 31. No. 3 opens with a cadential harmonic progression, they get the joke, or so wrote Boris Berman. I don't understand it. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Previously on NecessaryFacts<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2021/02/rachmaninoff.html" target="_blank">Rachmaninoff</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2021/01/music-makes-you-braver.html" target="_blank">Music Makes You Braver</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2012/02/austin-at-night.html" target="_blank">Austin at Night</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2019/02/world-war-ii-sweetheart-dance-2019.html" target="_blank">World War II Sweetheart Dance 2019</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></b></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-73133033413354753252023-12-31T16:23:00.000-08:002024-01-21T17:57:07.702-08:00Books Read and Not Read in 2023<p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This past summer, I read <i>The Left Hand of Darkness</i> and <i>The Dispossessed</i>. I also read <i>The Time Machine</i>, <i>The Invisible Man</i>, and <i>The War of the Worlds</i> in quick succession. I just finished <i>Their Eyes Were Watching God</i> by Zora Neale Hurston. Between those markers are several other science fiction novels left unfinished including <i>The Iron Heel. </i>James Joyce’s <i>Ulysses</i> was quickly abandoned. </span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuZdUeXAf2S6TBIVeLKz-IO9MktzcQFgwbwFdjVdtrMpk5baKA-5WmUbJ7xjbBwG0L37HbmbxKsbEsYkysdK915f7-tlDsgsXV9MqGQM-UFJFBIL8NSq1k7wMEC9eDvqUa7x-1PejRxtPN1_cwPsQO9gexQ0YeU_TBmQIkcunkivc2w2LnBO-mW0tRZ1Zj/s1632/Curious%20Books%20Old%20Scrolls%20Blog%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="1632" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuZdUeXAf2S6TBIVeLKz-IO9MktzcQFgwbwFdjVdtrMpk5baKA-5WmUbJ7xjbBwG0L37HbmbxKsbEsYkysdK915f7-tlDsgsXV9MqGQM-UFJFBIL8NSq1k7wMEC9eDvqUa7x-1PejRxtPN1_cwPsQO9gexQ0YeU_TBmQIkcunkivc2w2LnBO-mW0tRZ1Zj/w394-h296/Curious%20Books%20Old%20Scrolls%20Blog%20copy.jpg" width="394" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Curious Books in East Lansing.<br /></span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Hurston was recommended to me by a co-worker, a garage attendant with a degree in English. I had no idea who Hurston was and reading about her was as compelling as her work. She was complicated. So, she is a Rorschach inkblot to every biographer. I will not add my uninformed opinions. I like Huston’s narration.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">“Seeing the woman as she was made them remember the envy they stored up from other times. So they chewed up the back parts of their minds and swallowed with relish. They made burning statements with questions, and killing tools out of laughs. It was mass cruelty. A mood come alive. Words walking without masters, walking together like harmony in a song.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">“They sat in the fresh young darkness close together. Pheoby eager to feel and do through Janie, but hating to show her zest for fear it might be thought mere curiosity. Janie full of that oldest human longing—self revelation. Pheoby held her tongue for a long time, but she couldn’t help moving her feet. So, Janie spoke.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">“Sop and his friends had tried to hurt her but she knew it was because they loved Tea Cake and didn’t understand. So she sent Sop word and to all the others through him. So the day of the funeral they all came with shame and apology in their faces. They wanted her quick forgetfulness. So they filled up and overflowed the ten sedans Janie had hired and added others to the line. Then the band played, and Tea Cake rode like a Pharaoh to his tomb. No expensive veils and robes for Janie this time. She went on in her overalls. She was too busy feeling grief to dress like grief.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The City of Dreaming Books</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> by Walter Moers (Harvill Secker, 2006. Set in Stempel Garamond), is a fantasy. As parody, it is a spoof and quickly became cloying. And yet, it remains interesting as I read night after night. It is a story about books, writing them, printing them, buying, selling, and collecting them. Our hero, Optimus Yarnspinner, is a dinosaur. This world is also inhabited by many other fantastic creatures. Their images were drawn by the author. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPk8-esy1kDkTzYrpohHguY8Obk71cSjKKXRL-6BRMLuU3k9w9Xom2AEsvM54zX_uzOG2lqUO8JIsp7iHISBFEjquofrao4t-4cmQE2hjANgYmncVTCTVEO5g8Ip9z4Sb6FoAk1pbu_-kp5y7Qi9xt4TyKVv0kVV1PTxXosU5k-RrmVtpRAJySn-bKWcqW/s3404/bookholm%202b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1697" data-original-width="3404" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPk8-esy1kDkTzYrpohHguY8Obk71cSjKKXRL-6BRMLuU3k9w9Xom2AEsvM54zX_uzOG2lqUO8JIsp7iHISBFEjquofrao4t-4cmQE2hjANgYmncVTCTVEO5g8Ip9z4Sb6FoAk1pbu_-kp5y7Qi9xt4TyKVv0kVV1PTxXosU5k-RrmVtpRAJySn-bKWcqW/w400-h200/bookholm%202b.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>Inhabitants of Bookholm</span>.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Not being steeped in literature myself, many of the allusions went over my head. About halfway in, the anagrams leapt out at me because of a parody of “The Bells” written by Perla la Gadeon whose anagram I deciphered on sight. Much else fell into place. I already understood the bookstores and the other avenues of commerce and the inelegant pathways of earning a living by writing for readers. </span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASCbs3xcy6NSLewvKVGy8OTbsjdSeEKP55g5jkHZTWKL4mM7r5xYFAMnrBEdTHS8W6CXPhXLizjGgy6jS1eFBmw6rs7bNfid-5REB5Cymhg-9p-ku79vJbJbZqtAo5bvrEMH7lk8Tyqx9Uo3O7zo9ny1Relh5PeTQdWmrmtZIBwkMlgrIR-wnnQzOCvos/s3425/bookholm%206a%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1310" data-original-width="3425" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASCbs3xcy6NSLewvKVGy8OTbsjdSeEKP55g5jkHZTWKL4mM7r5xYFAMnrBEdTHS8W6CXPhXLizjGgy6jS1eFBmw6rs7bNfid-5REB5Cymhg-9p-ku79vJbJbZqtAo5bvrEMH7lk8Tyqx9Uo3O7zo9ny1Relh5PeTQdWmrmtZIBwkMlgrIR-wnnQzOCvos/w400-h153/bookholm%206a%20copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Bibliophiles who live underground</b>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I also found something that the author did not intend with his description of a book hospital where devoted cyclops creatures repair old books. “It’s where we restore worm-eaten or damaged books. We reconstruct texts and reprint them or repair the bindings. Books can be damaged in many ways,” explains the guide. It sounds benevolent but we just attended "The Long Lives of Very Old Books" at the Harry Ransom Center and among the displays were forgeries in which stolen books had been cut apart, pages reproduced (sometimes by hand lettering), and the books rebound, and sold to collectors. The British Museum bought a large inventory of its own former shelving.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b>Addendum 21 January 2024</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I finished the book. I thought that Moers wrote it in English because I did not believe that the translator, John Brownjohn, is a real person. He is. Moers himself is secretly famous. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"></p><b style="font-family: georgia;"><span><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0595520/" target="_blank">Walter Moers on IMDb</a></span></b><br /><b style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.librarything.com/author/moerswalter" target="_blank">Walter Moers in LibraryThing</a> </b><br /><b style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/WalterMoers" target="_blank">Walter Moers in TVTropes</a> </b><br /><b style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Moers" target="_blank">Walter Moers in Wikipedia</a> </b><br /><b style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_of_Dreaming_Books" target="_blank">The City of Dreaming Books in Wikipedia</a> </b><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/03/start-presses.html" target="_blank">Start the Presses! </a></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2017/09/for-glory-of-old-lincoln-high.html" target="_blank">For the Glory of Old Lincoln High</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2023/08/armadillocon-45.html" target="_blank">ArmadilloCon 45</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2011/06/firefly-fact-and-value-aboard-serenity.html" target="_blank">Firefly: Fact and Value Aboard Serenity</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2015/08/libraries-of-founders.html" target="_blank">Libraries of the Founders</a> </span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><o:p style="font-size: 11pt;"></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-16626536799910874452023-12-28T10:37:00.000-08:002024-01-04T16:23:40.835-08:00OBSERVATION LOG <p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b> <span style="background-color: white;">I am writing an article about the 31 January 1783 and 1862 first sightings of the white dwarfs 40 Eridani BC (companions to Keid Omicron-2 Eridani) and Sirius B. We have another night (maybe two) of good viewing. My targets for tonight are Gamma Ceti, Uranus and Neptune, and Keid ABC. For the triple stars, I have other Barlows and even an Explore Scientific 5X focal extender.</span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqrFDeazJfw_ja-o2yemhyOq704C64IW6mjxvcJ2Vr7lN7SIdyfGL8S7JE8PuhKp42yl1Mpcq1X1TTXLN4RjOkrx00YsABLbz2kgp2_Avj7V6GEGqyoviuqpvWa9vePE-qqY78GohIrzllCT5v7nAMtEusbdWg-AEylFOOVspOgBv00ojCtcwwN83dHPs/s2018/Keid%2026-27Dec%202023%20copy%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="2018" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqrFDeazJfw_ja-o2yemhyOq704C64IW6mjxvcJ2Vr7lN7SIdyfGL8S7JE8PuhKp42yl1Mpcq1X1TTXLN4RjOkrx00YsABLbz2kgp2_Avj7V6GEGqyoviuqpvWa9vePE-qqY78GohIrzllCT5v7nAMtEusbdWg-AEylFOOVspOgBv00ojCtcwwN83dHPs/w487-h237/Keid%2026-27Dec%202023%20copy%202.jpg" width="487" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;">We had some clearing and I got out on the 11th and 17th for a few minutes and again on the 24th with my "grab-and-go" Explore Scientific 102-mm achromatic refractor on an Explore Twilight 1 mount. With the forecast encouraging, I set up my Astronomics AT-115 apochromatic refractor on its Celestron AVX mount. It took me a couple of nights to get everything in place and get myself out of the house for the night. The oculars were a Meade 5000 UWA (ultra wide angle: 80 deg) 14mm (57X) and an AstroTech PF (Premium Flat because they cannot say Perfectly Flat field of view) 5.5 mm (146X). For the Pleiades, I used a Tele Vue 32mm Ploessl without and with a Tele Vue Bandmate Type II filter with narrow bandpass for doubly ionized O-III and excited hydrogen H-beta. </span><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><br /></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFu-aBq097DP4Sir9Irmf5-PKRsUB6gFUcLafI9Qz7aBTCgCq3QF19OkinpeevQ1Do3efTgFR9Cc-lRHMUF9rM2OIY-9-K4nT19hMCEyvnNeHJ8SfKDXz3rTfgKgWxqgl6WnQ5wx5Z0p9AHvgwRl_zI2-FY-876dsSalr8fbOG8IxO4StqZ0PnSCmvI8s_/s2103/Doubles%2027Dec%202023%20(edit).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="930" data-original-width="2103" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFu-aBq097DP4Sir9Irmf5-PKRsUB6gFUcLafI9Qz7aBTCgCq3QF19OkinpeevQ1Do3efTgFR9Cc-lRHMUF9rM2OIY-9-K4nT19hMCEyvnNeHJ8SfKDXz3rTfgKgWxqgl6WnQ5wx5Z0p9AHvgwRl_zI2-FY-876dsSalr8fbOG8IxO4StqZ0PnSCmvI8s_/w505-h225/Doubles%2027Dec%202023%20(edit).jpg" width="505" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;">Setting up the multi-star alignment, Keid was offered in the menu. That was my first view of that star. Last night, I viewed</span><b style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"> Keid 40 Eridani </b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;">again and made three sketches at 57X, 146X, and 292X. I was not able to split the companions and saw them as a single star.</span><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><br /></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVRulUQn7qdoygNCI0ePLkc2vVosJhnX62NBF2doSR4C_cN31HmM0SS63QHxeJ_yX6m4wwC1FCK2DaFuC2MYrECZ3LcU3f9Jey_Ty4elJq7GYdG8NrGb5j5uGGG9slSKjsOapi_NEm7VB1yKwfnJQapIVftsWlcfwd6-PvUj6TPnZejdxcFETNX6wfdPnw/s1789/2023decem28-B%20%20(edit-2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="571" data-original-width="1789" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVRulUQn7qdoygNCI0ePLkc2vVosJhnX62NBF2doSR4C_cN31HmM0SS63QHxeJ_yX6m4wwC1FCK2DaFuC2MYrECZ3LcU3f9Jey_Ty4elJq7GYdG8NrGb5j5uGGG9slSKjsOapi_NEm7VB1yKwfnJQapIVftsWlcfwd6-PvUj6TPnZejdxcFETNX6wfdPnw/w481-h153/2023decem28-B%20%20(edit-2).jpg" width="481" /></a></div><span style="color: #222222;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">From 2102 PM to 0115 AM</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; margin: 0in;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Keid 40 Eridani – see drawings</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Uranus – small white circle 14mm (57X) and 5.5 mm (146X)</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #222222;">52 Eridani</span><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Gamma Arietis (Mesarthim) </span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #222222;">Eta Cassiopeia</span><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Messier 103 no joy</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Andromeda Galaxy</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Gamma Ceti</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Messier 41</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Messier 42</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">IC 2118 "Witch's Hat" no joy</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Pleiades.</span></span></li></ul><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">Tonight: Gamma Ceti (split AB primary), Uranus and Neptune (both in Aries), Keid A and BC split.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><b>Added 30 December 2023 5:52</b></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgULilpYJNnZiSD4sT4o3w5w6cchH79Kz7cYfZEBlcrssE4yHnwc01_Qk9zfOkDqvEHYZ1tXh_4_J3s1k7xYa-G390lBMtgzQNrS9CZ9jEdYi12Lq99djwN6ymF4xMnzh2yfXjDQuBYGAIiUu8xn7qV2DbOFDrAhZmP2ZKNGfreVFCJw_Xc97hnJKRPZLOi/s1968/Keid%20ABC.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="921" data-original-width="1968" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgULilpYJNnZiSD4sT4o3w5w6cchH79Kz7cYfZEBlcrssE4yHnwc01_Qk9zfOkDqvEHYZ1tXh_4_J3s1k7xYa-G390lBMtgzQNrS9CZ9jEdYi12Lq99djwN6ymF4xMnzh2yfXjDQuBYGAIiUu8xn7qV2DbOFDrAhZmP2ZKNGfreVFCJw_Xc97hnJKRPZLOi/w490-h230/Keid%20ABC.jpg" width="490" /></a></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div>When I started the alignment the area around Deneb which was low in the west was very clear. "My god. It's full of stars." Starting with low power from 14 mm at 57X and 7 mm at 114X, I increased the magnification with the Explore Scientific 5X focal extender to 285 power and then to 570+. And I found the lesser member of the binary pair with Keid. Herschel first found them at 460X with his 48-inch f/10 reflector. (</span>Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1785, Vol. 75 (1785), pp. 40-126. Introduction on page 46 and stars reported page 87.)</div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><b>PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS</b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; margin: 0in;"><b style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; margin: 0in;"><b style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2020/12/jupiter-saturn-conjunction-2020.html" target="_blank">Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction 2020</a> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2020/08/measuring-your-universe-alan-hirshfelds.html" target="_blank">Measuring Your Universe: Alan Hirshfeld's Astronomy Activity Manual</a> </span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2021/01/against-dark-skies.html" target="_blank">Against Dark Skies</a> </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href=" https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/03/seeing-in-dark-your-front-row-seat-to.html" target="_blank">Seeing in the Dark: Your Front Row Seat to the Universe</a></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: repeat white; margin: 0in;"><br /></p></div></div>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-51430181012273317652023-12-24T16:49:00.000-08:002023-12-25T04:58:25.512-08:00 Christmas Stars: Menkar and Keid; Scrooge and Franklin<p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b></b></span></p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b>Every Christmas we wonder why astrologers were compelled to travel a thousand kilometers across the desert. I have no idea. But I do know that there is always something interesting happening in the sky. In 2020, the December conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter rewarded anyone who looked up at night. This year my telescopes will be turned to the constellations Eridanus and Cetus. </b></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Not being on the zodiac, they do not enjoy the attendant mysticism. It is just that my living now at 30N latitude makes those constellations easier to explore. Also, I am writing about Keid (40 Eridani) and its companion omicron Eridani. (It has two, denoted B and C, but I do not expect to overcome the urban sky here.) I observed the orange giant Menkar alpha Ceti last week. Tonight through Thursday, the sky should be clear and the full Moon not obscuring the view with Thursday night being the best opportunity with a later rising of the Moon. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It is nice to have the week off as a paid holiday. That is an old tradition, but not the one most people usually think of. The year of 365¼ days was reconciled with the circle of 360 degrees by not counting the five dead days between the winter solstice feast of Saturn and the start of the Julian New Year. It was a direct import from Egypt because of Cleopatra Ptolemy’s alliance with Gaius Julius Caesar.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Thebans say that they are the earliest of all men and the first people among whom philosophy and the exact science of the stars were discovered, since their country enables them to observe more distinctly than others the rising and settings of the stars. Peculiar to them also is their ordering of the months and years. For they do not reckon the days by the moon, but by the sun, making their month of thirty days, and they add five and a quarter days to the twelve months and in this way fill out the cycle of the year. But they do not intercalate months or subtract days, as most of the Greeks do. – Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Book I, paragraph 50. (<a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/" target="_blank"><b>Online at U Chicago Penelope here</b></a>.) </span></blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfz5ui-HSl8aAkQDd7npsHJcgxBBLltAFdOwgsiEexA6uzNtQ4LjOtTLKs-rH00xDmDL9ooPjQM_ESFdWCByd_UaEO1kF_YSr6q9pysyve9khZzaP-sWBIoesOrEc9UnofTijZJsByUi6ZB6Ylq_I8bj-SLAvlDXyskOLOSDFr5fAuvPwAZdODflSIxM_b/s330/scrooge02.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="250" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfz5ui-HSl8aAkQDd7npsHJcgxBBLltAFdOwgsiEexA6uzNtQ4LjOtTLKs-rH00xDmDL9ooPjQM_ESFdWCByd_UaEO1kF_YSr6q9pysyve9khZzaP-sWBIoesOrEc9UnofTijZJsByUi6ZB6Ylq_I8bj-SLAvlDXyskOLOSDFr5fAuvPwAZdODflSIxM_b/w131-h173/scrooge02.jpg" width="131" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;">We think of Christmas as a continuing tradition, uninterrupted for 2000 years. But it was interrupted and abandoned. We do not understand Ebenezer Scrooge. He was a religious conservative of that time,</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> a</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">fundamentalist Protestant. Calvinists of that time had come to accept that you demonstrate your election and bring others to salvation by working hard and being thrifty. Max Weber’s</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">The Protestant Ethic and the Rise of Capitalism</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">begins by republishing Benjamin Franklin’s</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">The Way to Wealth</i><span style="font-family: georgia;">. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIONPX_ISjEw59GeSzn5hVWV5_BrIDymxq_6H3E0SDg2Eas3Q26EhBQjGcMqY0DMc3fn4cP2XPKcgpVPMXKCe_UCkIyI2X2NmVe78ArxTw-Cm-WkqrNEQNcHm0CFAKytnF0sIRMsN2yqCPQU5nbVeGMVbrlJUPFAK3JQivGqPIUbIyF6p3Ld2L3wFLB-FX/s775/Washington%20Crossing%20the%20Delaware%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="775" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIONPX_ISjEw59GeSzn5hVWV5_BrIDymxq_6H3E0SDg2Eas3Q26EhBQjGcMqY0DMc3fn4cP2XPKcgpVPMXKCe_UCkIyI2X2NmVe78ArxTw-Cm-WkqrNEQNcHm0CFAKytnF0sIRMsN2yqCPQU5nbVeGMVbrlJUPFAK3JQivGqPIUbIyF6p3Ld2L3wFLB-FX/w477-h279/Washington%20Crossing%20the%20Delaware%20copy.jpg" width="477" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>A Colonial Christmas</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Christmas on December 25 has not much support in Biblical text. After a hiatus, Christmas was re-invented. Charles Dickens’</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">A Christmas Carol</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">(1843) fit with the invention of the Christmas greeting card (1843) which took advantage of the invention of the postage stamp (1840).</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS<o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b> </b></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/12/merry-newtonmas-2022.html" target="_blank">Merry Newtonmas 2022</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2011/12/merry-newtonmas.html" target="_blank">Merry Newtonmas 2011</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-christmas-star.html" target="_blank">The Christmas Star 2017</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2014/11/before-email.html" target="_blank">Before Email</a> </b></p></div>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-66682485858555386652023-11-30T18:47:00.000-08:002023-11-30T18:51:14.919-08:0030 Minutes with Dinosaurs<p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b>I made time during my campus patrols to visit the Science and Natural History Museum at the University of Texas at Austin. The collection is impressive, far surpassing what I grew up with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and also what I have seen over the years at other museums. It is emblematic of Texas that the museum had to be closed because it ran out of state funding. I am happy that it is open again.</b></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxNGVAqq3-izcJkitNhm_sSpIgDisNbLO9c0-pbFLP5-WZC54tKoSDpWCsJVb_dXgCmqKJV6YjhG-7NTgYH9ga8YEUgZTnboZWwh1h1on0NLFwhyNYustt5GyVnqNarzXdB48Uqe4x_p4H5uHP9nmKeCPQ8pmUigyfV8OVQMygbNeF7_oiwMFEoy_HIo8/s4032/UT%20Museum%20Paleontology%20-%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxNGVAqq3-izcJkitNhm_sSpIgDisNbLO9c0-pbFLP5-WZC54tKoSDpWCsJVb_dXgCmqKJV6YjhG-7NTgYH9ga8YEUgZTnboZWwh1h1on0NLFwhyNYustt5GyVnqNarzXdB48Uqe4x_p4H5uHP9nmKeCPQ8pmUigyfV8OVQMygbNeF7_oiwMFEoy_HIo8/w483-h362/UT%20Museum%20Paleontology%20-%201.jpeg" width="483" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>Clearly, not my field. Judging by the rocks revealed by excavations at <br />construction sites here in Austin, I thought that this all was underwater <br />for the last 500 million years. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFqSgK1UbthnllzLTshYY1__jYBtI4NEZ-kEOcxSbv6mQiokK8uL1K1zoR_qkd6LPgA1ha0amRhcunqHRGHh87698rutAIOJZizNaqslraJqCB0QrjmsKgrYdcf74cS8W5-qPr9gJttTvtT1bmRdHdMLifpjdTGkNa11YEaz-Wa_hpu_XRc9nlLb4jnzMF/s4032/UT%20Museum%20Paleontology%20-%203.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFqSgK1UbthnllzLTshYY1__jYBtI4NEZ-kEOcxSbv6mQiokK8uL1K1zoR_qkd6LPgA1ha0amRhcunqHRGHh87698rutAIOJZizNaqslraJqCB0QrjmsKgrYdcf74cS8W5-qPr9gJttTvtT1bmRdHdMLifpjdTGkNa11YEaz-Wa_hpu_XRc9nlLb4jnzMF/w512-h384/UT%20Museum%20Paleontology%20-%203.jpeg" width="512" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>The specimen drawers are arranged to encourage exploring.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCplXgfqbVmKxYK9fZ9YvG5lBVx8dD9l4KxhmSC7XSKQBm9rng69RaO8iBNzsNQpjph_PsbflzLMrXsbhEOFhe-wvdD-u-LQaIrw3E1QWn-7T2YH8PgqfH0ghgIVooyLA4Xbdbzdc_YNsFT6WbQXXZnry18eWadt-EZ-UDsKfU7saVJLkMbKXpQSvfrwsL/s4032/UT%20Museum%20Paleontology%20-%205.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCplXgfqbVmKxYK9fZ9YvG5lBVx8dD9l4KxhmSC7XSKQBm9rng69RaO8iBNzsNQpjph_PsbflzLMrXsbhEOFhe-wvdD-u-LQaIrw3E1QWn-7T2YH8PgqfH0ghgIVooyLA4Xbdbzdc_YNsFT6WbQXXZnry18eWadt-EZ-UDsKfU7saVJLkMbKXpQSvfrwsL/w487-h365/UT%20Museum%20Paleontology%20-%205.jpeg" width="487" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>For a good picture, you really need to stand far enough back <br />that it could not get you.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip2U28_dMGiC9RU2sViJJ3wNMfon9nz3fDZ-DTAzqzEiFISZwt-vcTiPwtdIrAR_CLIdmJ-MRCP1HDfvdkU6SNsKL-H43yn90gI7fE3ZlGRubZZXJUT_RzitRwKKsENIsj4afOYsMHOQ7-IxwFDkvBhjuyqW0v8i1GnmPUB7jXCnjXA6E7wQUvQdpxykOq/s4032/UT%20Museum%20Paleontology%20-%207.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip2U28_dMGiC9RU2sViJJ3wNMfon9nz3fDZ-DTAzqzEiFISZwt-vcTiPwtdIrAR_CLIdmJ-MRCP1HDfvdkU6SNsKL-H43yn90gI7fE3ZlGRubZZXJUT_RzitRwKKsENIsj4afOYsMHOQ7-IxwFDkvBhjuyqW0v8i1GnmPUB7jXCnjXA6E7wQUvQdpxykOq/w400-h300/UT%20Museum%20Paleontology%20-%207.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>Just saying "Dimetrodon" is half the fun.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBalvbMn4C6yY4x0KCQcwa_RTqKxk2WMGeqVi7E3jwwOeSf1XvUvvlxKiNfj4LWv9CFgn3b0DaAshQ8qThO0drKq7G1fzPcbS64-vZYQAaBQNijWRCJPqIjxAJwkLMyUVdRy72RIieU3Y2bLZsRAaCmM3RSKfKmAMEK38nay3JgHNmQL1qd0yFYckYlBJ/s4032/UT%20Museum%20Paleontology%20-%204.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="515" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBalvbMn4C6yY4x0KCQcwa_RTqKxk2WMGeqVi7E3jwwOeSf1XvUvvlxKiNfj4LWv9CFgn3b0DaAshQ8qThO0drKq7G1fzPcbS64-vZYQAaBQNijWRCJPqIjxAJwkLMyUVdRy72RIieU3Y2bLZsRAaCmM3RSKfKmAMEK38nay3JgHNmQL1qd0yFYckYlBJ/w386-h515/UT%20Museum%20Paleontology%20-%204.jpeg" width="386" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>Who knew? Xenophora clean and attach to themselves random<br />bits off the floor. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNUgquUVdcLR5PRBXZXlFp0Jpbz4CRDq_2FK3UAcRECGzBfqKTqGLg0IY7_EooZdo3e3DJIO3BVHfMxd3E61C1yWV0FwAwFFLpx7MCQFZzwU7RHbBNEPYTr9yOk0d3_XdPa4h-Ts_pr6iLtpx2rav_xIfy4CFJZ5bnS1lZYjLSsF440xIAYqQ823vhngv/s4032/UT%20Museum%20Paleontology%20-%206.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="503" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNUgquUVdcLR5PRBXZXlFp0Jpbz4CRDq_2FK3UAcRECGzBfqKTqGLg0IY7_EooZdo3e3DJIO3BVHfMxd3E61C1yWV0FwAwFFLpx7MCQFZzwU7RHbBNEPYTr9yOk0d3_XdPa4h-Ts_pr6iLtpx2rav_xIfy4CFJZ5bnS1lZYjLSsF440xIAYqQ823vhngv/w377-h503/UT%20Museum%20Paleontology%20-%206.jpeg" width="377" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>We have a rule in the house against more bric-a-brac <br />but the Selenite was calling to me. <br />So, I bought two. I also got a coffee cup for myself.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b style="font-family: helvetica;">Previously on Necessary Facts</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-unremarkable-origin-of-species.html" target="_blank">The Unremarkable Origin of Species</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2014/02/epigenetics-and-evolution.html" target="_blank">Epigenetics and Evolution</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2012/01/origin-of-what.html" target="_blank">The Origin of … (What?)</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-philosophical-breakfast-club.html" target="_blank">The Philosophical Breakfast Club</a></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-map-that-changed-world.html" target="_blank">The Map that Changed the World</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-2081961319500746202023-11-23T15:28:00.000-08:002023-11-23T15:35:01.277-08:00 AFK: Parking Enforcement<p><b style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">Working as a University of Texas parking enforcement officer since 11 September has allowed me easy access to the libraries that I use most often, even though I have not been able to pry away time to visit more. (I did see the Gutenberg Bible at the Harry Ransom Center.) The morning drive to work takes one hour (40-50 minutes) and the commute home can take two (45 to 90 minutes). I am working tomorrow’s football game against Texas Tech from 6:30 AM to 7:30 PM. (The pay is great: with game day overtime and event bonus, it comes to the same as being a technical writer.) </span></b></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Some Saturdays have been devoted to the City of Kyle Public Library Astronomy Club and others to the Austin Astronomical Society and I still edit (and sometimes write) a monthly column for the Historical Astronomy Division of the AAS (here: </span></span></span><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://had.aas.org/resources/astro-history" target="_blank">https://had.aas.org/resources/astro-history</a>)</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">. Something had to give. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I try find whatever personal rewards that I can for self-actualization and transcendence (from Maslow’s Hierarchy). It has been a very long time since I watched the clock and looked forward to Friday. The advantages include UT healthcare insurance, as much walking as I choose to do (and I love walking), along with the light physical challenges of wrestling 22 lbs. of iron around an SUV’s tires to immobilize a scofflaw. </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivl_a5RovzamFalE6s0TYtrajsd4PJ4n8VvOA3MmSEN0cSu33DLMbYs0LKq9SYjJlXfGGVVsJDn6zt44bRHswHElbBVh8tMGK5DX2HLeIX7S_EfRZmi4O9CdpI0SR52kHlO6FUodT3VDvmf4KTUBUAMbRs7Dp5Ot16qKEj_0-IsKVCYA1lbWNCibgHO_7v" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1133" data-original-width="1737" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivl_a5RovzamFalE6s0TYtrajsd4PJ4n8VvOA3MmSEN0cSu33DLMbYs0LKq9SYjJlXfGGVVsJDn6zt44bRHswHElbBVh8tMGK5DX2HLeIX7S_EfRZmi4O9CdpI0SR52kHlO6FUodT3VDvmf4KTUBUAMbRs7Dp5Ot16qKEj_0-IsKVCYA1lbWNCibgHO_7v=w508-h331" width="508" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14.666667px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">I also have the opportunity engage in <br />philosophical discussions about semantics.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizFEVZ_ywCXd54Z4VseaKQMMN2zTbj4pLRMO7Sv1KuYnA8o4M_AIZi_otNpOkL9xX9E2Z51x3SnOYfAggzBMom0ufVTR1shRTtCSqT7EyEmnD-s6Awu4YgnPSIDAUjK8cpQulwx6qx4mdS_yPvj5YHxFcKej6rMRZMbWQ-hkEy7fjS7-ncOWqOcrxHSJMQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2069" data-original-width="1568" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizFEVZ_ywCXd54Z4VseaKQMMN2zTbj4pLRMO7Sv1KuYnA8o4M_AIZi_otNpOkL9xX9E2Z51x3SnOYfAggzBMom0ufVTR1shRTtCSqT7EyEmnD-s6Awu4YgnPSIDAUjK8cpQulwx6qx4mdS_yPvj5YHxFcKej6rMRZMbWQ-hkEy7fjS7-ncOWqOcrxHSJMQ=w356-h470" width="356" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14.666667px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">At the snack bar here, <br />the food is not labeled correctly <br />and they do not give out receipts for purchases.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBBRitQab2o3SVmONqJgyio5O5VS4Oab4CKeguZ1L6gFzhIsTmS7rX1CjFUHVIBwrV099yi5XNpaRFrlqP1L75iV2vIcFtO6Pkc4XyteIDW09EYB4RWnYvayWScfePty0qxNjKT3p17uNVZzE_OyjWAPdXvu36NxcSpYJ47MN-9xwfE9p3d9TxguX6P5pF" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgBBRitQab2o3SVmONqJgyio5O5VS4Oab4CKeguZ1L6gFzhIsTmS7rX1CjFUHVIBwrV099yi5XNpaRFrlqP1L75iV2vIcFtO6Pkc4XyteIDW09EYB4RWnYvayWScfePty0qxNjKT3p17uNVZzE_OyjWAPdXvu36NxcSpYJ47MN-9xwfE9p3d9TxguX6P5pF=w441-h331" width="441" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14.666667px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">This is still my favorite.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Waiting to be written are these researches.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTMDOx_i-HuqOSyRG5k6hgnkE71FRdNIghivQC5sABKi6Y40N2FzAFqxrigZC5ZDoTl8aKvVneTX3M-GTitmxSzdhR_k8WijE0qPAGXByzqLnuBCJ7Y2i9124CVcIZH2z7hjJwx8ihKO9uFg9xCkaCPB3L6RFsX3Hz5efmo1UntSBqHDswyGIF2m57-rQq" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="478" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTMDOx_i-HuqOSyRG5k6hgnkE71FRdNIghivQC5sABKi6Y40N2FzAFqxrigZC5ZDoTl8aKvVneTX3M-GTitmxSzdhR_k8WijE0qPAGXByzqLnuBCJ7Y2i9124CVcIZH2z7hjJwx8ihKO9uFg9xCkaCPB3L6RFsX3Hz5efmo1UntSBqHDswyGIF2m57-rQq" width="245" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />Like the problem of the tree that falls in a forest when no one is around, the fact is that there is sound in space. Stellar events create shock waves that cause compressions and rarefactions in the particles that comprise what we too easily call empty space.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">NGC 6231 is easy to see in the lower body of the Scorpion. It has not been easy for professionals to sort out which stars are bound in the open cluster, which are background and which are foreground. I sketched it several times.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">IC 1296 is a barred spiral galaxy that often appears in amateur photographs of the more famous M57 Ring Nebula in Lyra. In fact, I believe that it is an easy claim that amateurs have produced more photographs than professionals. I ran a literature search on the Harvard NASA database of articles and found some references. </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Messier 30 appeared here in October. I would like to recast those as a single magazine article. The cluster is moving opposite to the inertial frame of the Milky Way. So, professional astronomers believe that it was captured in a collision with another galaxy.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2016/08/afk-away-from-keyboard.html" target="_blank">AFK: Away from the Keyboard</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2017/09/afk-hurricane-harvey.html" target="_blank">AFK: Hurricane Harvey</a></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/11/minimizing-likelihood-of-bad-cops.html" target="_blank">Minimizing the Likelihood of Bad Cops</a></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2011/06/junk-criminology-as-pseudo-science.html" target="_blank">Junk Criminology as Pseudo-Science</a></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-4358578043675490262023-10-21T04:32:00.000-07:002023-10-21T04:32:13.119-07:00 TOMMY JAMES AND THE SHONDELLS AND THE MOB<p><b style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #4472c4; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">You are known by the company you keep. When Thomas Gregory Jackson became Tommy James of the Shondells, he was already on a career arc that included the most popular musicians of his (our) generation at that time and also drew him into the circle of Morris Levy’s Roulette Records which was a subset of the Mafia crime families of New York and New Jersey. </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Though his own family moved in his early years because his father was a hotel manager, basically, Tommy James came from Niles, Michigan. So, this could be the story of Bob Seeger and the Silver Bullet Band or of Joe Walsh and the James Gang, or a dozen others from the 1960s who lived anywhere between Pittsburgh and Chicago. I did not know all of his gold records. Some I had to listen to on YouTube. His early hits echoed in my memories of times and places over the two weeks in which I was immersed in reading this. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tommy James’s autobiography is unassuming and revealing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjozfkS5lQUEs5AInwUnagvoLa_SD0ihMNmNeqDhIlyNvKSgAXIw6MGvCoL0NojPuG5oRQgDN66z1bJrjgzugfur8YuePOJKW-aLEO8IFxX4-TZfIfYGxyUDU3hWQ2MdrM8xkBlsgNCLNaYTRGIfUiyOF60rlFVgeD9Iem9u026N9LzmlmP_KrEkm9HhzG/s1456/cover%202%20bordered.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1456" data-original-width="950" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjozfkS5lQUEs5AInwUnagvoLa_SD0ihMNmNeqDhIlyNvKSgAXIw6MGvCoL0NojPuG5oRQgDN66z1bJrjgzugfur8YuePOJKW-aLEO8IFxX4-TZfIfYGxyUDU3hWQ2MdrM8xkBlsgNCLNaYTRGIfUiyOF60rlFVgeD9Iem9u026N9LzmlmP_KrEkm9HhzG/w261-h400/cover%202%20bordered.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>Me, the Mob, and the Music: <br />One Helluva Ride with Tommy James <br />and the Shondells</b></span></i><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b> <br />by Tommy James with Martin Fitzpatrick, <br />Scribner; Simon & Schuster, 2011.</b></span><br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The title comes from a statement by Morris Levy after the first hit song: You’re in for a hell of a ride (pages 62-63). In the wake of that chart topper, Thomas Gregory Jackson became Tommy James. The name “Shondells” had no special meaning except that several pop groups had similar names: Rondels, Del-Tones, Delfonics, etc.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">For much of his career, he lived in residence hotels and apartments. And of course, he was often touring, playing in town after town, city after city. I was surprised that even though he grew up in the hotel business, he seemed never to have used any special knowledge to garner a room upgrade, off-hours room service, or anything else. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It took him a long time to come around to being a parent and he did not do very well at it. Abandoning his wife and child, it took about 90 pages before he called home, even though his wife was living with his parents from the very first. (Her family was opposed to the marriage because they were opposed to the pregnancy.) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was interesting that he absorbed the Mob mentality. After several scenes in which Morris Levy threatened people, Tommy used the same language and tone when he felt that Gene Pitney had taken his music. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hubert Humphrey wrote the liner notes for the album <i>Crimson and Clover </i>(page 165). This was a time of protest and very few young musicians were aligned with the Establishment, not even with the Democrats and certainly not with the Republicans. On another matter entirely, I once read that Barry Goldwater said that listening to Hubert Humphrey was like trying to read <i>Playboy</i> with your wife turning the pages. So, the story here of Tommy James giving Vice President Humphrey amphetamines struck a responsive chord. Humphrey said that he got a lot of work done that night. I can only imagine. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have to confess that I did not know until I read it here that Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago arranged for ballot boxes to disappear, thus swinging the electoral college votes from Illinois into the Republican column, contributing to the Nixon victory. Daley was furious because at the convention, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">in a speech nominating George McGovern,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sen. Abraham Ribicoff denounced Daley's administration for the "Gestapo <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">tactics" of the Chicago police department.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some years after that, eventually, Tommy James found his religion, realized that he was always a Christian, and had himself placed at the Betty Ford Clinic. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hit Songs I Know<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hanky Panky <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I Think We’re Alone Now <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mony Mony <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mirage<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Crystal Blue Persuasion<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Draggin the Line<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mentioned in the book, these songs I did not know but found on YouTube. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ball of Fire<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Say I Am<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">She<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sweet Cherry Wine<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: #800180;"><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2012/02/austin-at-night.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #800180;">Austin at Night</span></a> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/03/sxsw-2013.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #800180;">South by Southwest 2013</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2021/02/rachmaninoff.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #800180;">Rachmaninoff</span></a> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2021/01/music-makes-you-braver.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #800180;">Music Makes You Braver </span></a></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href=" https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2016/05/song-texans-serving-texans.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #800180;">State Guard Song “Texans Serving Texans”</span></a></span></b></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-22531843261721005792023-10-20T03:33:00.001-07:002023-10-20T03:33:55.463-07:00Messier 30 and a Nearby Star<p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b>I made a project of viewing globular cluster Messier 30 again over three nights.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I located the object by drawing a triangle from Delta Capricorni (Deneb Algiedi - tail of the Goat), and Zeta Capricorni and the expected position of Messier 31 which was not visible. I found that dropping vertically not from Delta Capricorni, as recommended by Sue French in <i>Celestial Sampler</i> but from Nashira (Gamma Capri) to the same altitude as Zeta Cap worked better. M30 is as far east from Zeta as Delta is from Gamma. I found Messier 31 in the field of view. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Last night I investigated the star to the east of M30, which according to the <i>Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas (Jumbo Edition)</i> is a double. I could not split it. I used these oculars (eyepieces):</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meade 5000 14 mm. = 47X</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tele Vue 7 mm = 94X</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Stellarvue 4mm = 165X</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Tele Vue 7mm + 2X Barlow = 188X</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyISbDh_Kz8emFufZ8FobygDywHaFKH8J_Vxdp3h2XFWbWjVaxIrWH9Z59NM1EMuK0dmAbPlfKOCDICafaXfKrT6qzEl9rACG8iVp1xPLMOvaoBr9zoZnZ_LFYKbtDFSKahuUBcVDAWHlQAaC1v8X7CWsb7vDZ4gwCpgmSBwDJm1LEUNm4nLkPcTPvdvbP/s1033/17-18%20Oct%202023%20Messier%2030.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="1033" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyISbDh_Kz8emFufZ8FobygDywHaFKH8J_Vxdp3h2XFWbWjVaxIrWH9Z59NM1EMuK0dmAbPlfKOCDICafaXfKrT6qzEl9rACG8iVp1xPLMOvaoBr9zoZnZ_LFYKbtDFSKahuUBcVDAWHlQAaC1v8X7CWsb7vDZ4gwCpgmSBwDJm1LEUNm4nLkPcTPvdvbP/w467-h334/17-18%20Oct%202023%20Messier%2030.jpg" width="467" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">That last did make the center of M30 a little sparkly and showed more of the elongaged shape of the cluster, but the overall view was poor at high magnification.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2023/06/globular-clusters.html" target="_blank">Globular Clusters</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2021/11/two-deep-sky-targets.html" target="_blank">Two Deep-Sky Targets</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-andromeda-galaxy.html" target="_blank">The Andromeda Galaxy</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2019/07/binocular-highlights-book-review.html" target="_blank">Binocular Highlights (Book Review)</a></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-16676075989843458192023-10-15T15:03:00.008-07:002023-10-15T23:59:36.738-07:00 Messier 30 and Other Views<p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b>Last night and this morning was my first time out since 30 August. I used the Celestron AVX mount and AstroTech 115 mm Apochromatic refractor to get reacquainted with familiar objects. However, for me the big win was a new target, Messier 30. M30 is likely an outside visitor. A globular cluster attracted away from a satellite galaxy, it moves retrograde through the Milky Way disk.</b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">(This was originally a post in the Observation Log IV on Cloudy Nights.)</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #4472c4;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I also set up my Explore Scientific 102 mm doublet refractor on the Twilight 1 mount. This is something that I do for learning, so as not to be totally dependent on the computerized goto AVX. The AVX found M30. Then, I located it in that telescope's red dot and found it again in the manual mount. It took some panning and scanning but was worth it, of course. I spent about 20 minutes with Messier 30 and the two telescopes. Planning my night, I found it in Sue French's <i>Celestial Sample</i> and logged it as my first goal. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">These were viewed with the 115 mm f/7 and a 14mm 82-degree Meade ocular:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">14 October from 2130<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">(I re-ran the calibration because going from Vega to Altair, the mount wanted to drive the telescope into its own leg and I had to hit the power switch and start over. Never jog a robot without covering the E-stop.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2208 - Dabih beta1,2 Capricorni<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2214 - Algedi alpha 1,2(a,b) Capricorni<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2225 - Epsilon Lyrae (Not split at 57X, I changed eyepieces to an AstroTech 5.5 mm Premium Flat for 151X and it was perfect. Also discernable at 102X with a 7 mm Tele Vue. I know that we all can achieve the double-double with less aperture and magnification, but a lot depends on the sky. My sky was good for the city, which is why I hauled out the AVX and AT-115 but it is very urban for a nominal suburb.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">2232 - M57 Ring Nebula. 5.5 mm. Large and almost colorful.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">15 October 0550 AM<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">0556 - Messier 41<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">0607 - Venus almost first quarter, fuller crescent. Used 90% Moon filter.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">0614 - Messier 31 Andromeda Galaxy - almost elliptical, large fuzzy patch over the hospital to my north.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">0622 - Messier 1 Crab Nebula: many stars but no joy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">0628 - Messier 35 open cluster in the foot of Gemini<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">0634 - Rosette Nebula: many stars but no joy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">0642 - Castor - 14 mm (51X) not quite split. 7 mm split well.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS<o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b> </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2020/12/focus-on-simon-georg-ploessl.html" target="_blank">Focus on Simon Georg Ploessl</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2020/08/measuring-your-universe-alan-hirshfelds.html" target="_blank">Measuring Your Universe: Alan Hirshfeld’s Astronomy Activity Manual</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2018/06/austin-under-stars.html" target="_blank">Austin Under the Stars</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #7030a0;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2015/06/meteorites.html" target="_blank">Meteorites</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-10341983554977761752023-10-15T15:00:00.002-07:002023-10-15T15:05:32.139-07:00Annular Eclipse 14 October 2023<p><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;">The City of Kyle Public Library Astronomy Club hosted viewing of the annular solar eclipse of 14 October 2023. The Library also pitched in with extra viewing glasses, a case of bottle water, and a bucket of sidewalk chalk. We gave out 22 pairs of glasses, 12 from the club and 10 from the library. About 30 people attended, many staying up to an hour past maximum.</span></b></p><p><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj74n3F-qdHAkiaIcxxF49XWfGZveWF5L-lYECHPYQccMqbYg64Wni85FGH_E0iptDxJCcKupTHc_JjtD12x_E3G93uao8cCki6oKFYEzZ4ZQBS59nMlhCalYktRAzmQuANQ0GTZs2c-ZhXJ5QA-M8OPiDWbdbQ4XDRWdF2Xt-bhXU-mZfgL7zNyTwgxlhC/s2370/eclipse%20party%201.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="2370" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj74n3F-qdHAkiaIcxxF49XWfGZveWF5L-lYECHPYQccMqbYg64Wni85FGH_E0iptDxJCcKupTHc_JjtD12x_E3G93uao8cCki6oKFYEzZ4ZQBS59nMlhCalYktRAzmQuANQ0GTZs2c-ZhXJ5QA-M8OPiDWbdbQ4XDRWdF2Xt-bhXU-mZfgL7zNyTwgxlhC/w400-h273/eclipse%20party%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW_zoyIX6YvE0_pSByyUsgyLxLL0NfuaolqW3xQKtW1rgfGktI63fTnhb0hSip5xhHCq5ipGOxVr0xvha9SvJ7HAzgewodkpFARcDqdXzjTht6Pe8tdmhQh8sfv1oE3jo_3NFdjCCargjQQNcsPeXd5svEoP9HjxUYit8wgIPHNNgjz_XcC2GqRFgHZxaL/s1977/eclipse%20party%202.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1977" data-original-width="1262" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW_zoyIX6YvE0_pSByyUsgyLxLL0NfuaolqW3xQKtW1rgfGktI63fTnhb0hSip5xhHCq5ipGOxVr0xvha9SvJ7HAzgewodkpFARcDqdXzjTht6Pe8tdmhQh8sfv1oE3jo_3NFdjCCargjQQNcsPeXd5svEoP9HjxUYit8wgIPHNNgjz_XcC2GqRFgHZxaL/s320/eclipse%20party%202.jpg" width="204" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-vfKFN10lHn9pEmGHL-aMCus7BnEqoChEKUWzC1vVYI34qNZofILVuF3X-UWCuL4WAtNee7rZO1XVgcUwCzKrCcWpEVM4MaKcCu8-bVVjTPrixtZ0pBQQaAaMrKX8pw61ey2dK4tUFefV7VWdhg5WTqU4miWA5A285D1cO4vfTZ8AV4aMaspW0Uav2bHU/s749/eclipse%20party%203.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="749" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-vfKFN10lHn9pEmGHL-aMCus7BnEqoChEKUWzC1vVYI34qNZofILVuF3X-UWCuL4WAtNee7rZO1XVgcUwCzKrCcWpEVM4MaKcCu8-bVVjTPrixtZ0pBQQaAaMrKX8pw61ey2dK4tUFefV7VWdhg5WTqU4miWA5A285D1cO4vfTZ8AV4aMaspW0Uav2bHU/s320/eclipse%20party%203.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBxeKWRJiFtzsp0CWZlUvK9EpQ27bOr3NaeiKcBKf4Rj9D7Pan79piLJR3aQ7AGjddbFh23xOAKMhlnT42WFsRHWjjwaMkheISWsKWIVSyWf_E8I4ROHIcXOM1ZF7GG1XQFo4AfGj8vQXOhmhMNA9qOE4cB26D1bTuC0Bnd20nHLSGIe2gSVf7FrEHxDi/s808/Eclipse%20Party%204.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="808" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBxeKWRJiFtzsp0CWZlUvK9EpQ27bOr3NaeiKcBKf4Rj9D7Pan79piLJR3aQ7AGjddbFh23xOAKMhlnT42WFsRHWjjwaMkheISWsKWIVSyWf_E8I4ROHIcXOM1ZF7GG1XQFo4AfGj8vQXOhmhMNA9qOE4cB26D1bTuC0Bnd20nHLSGIe2gSVf7FrEHxDi/s320/Eclipse%20Party%204.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXHI2DAqzsJ1qBlffVtd0vBUdWJiDrQfOe12N71SfGgb2FTRT7PNAO0y694wqBVA4-ZzdRY93iLNX8OaRO1Tr_V3-N7xlLaog3qeGzSLVACApWGulD71OVmUJJhddYXlwPgEAaXOZ4gOE90dDC85FYb-fRBG3n4w7JdkTOVZLFV6YAey84ll34KHbp7B_/s1127/eclipse%20party%205.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1127" data-original-width="638" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrXHI2DAqzsJ1qBlffVtd0vBUdWJiDrQfOe12N71SfGgb2FTRT7PNAO0y694wqBVA4-ZzdRY93iLNX8OaRO1Tr_V3-N7xlLaog3qeGzSLVACApWGulD71OVmUJJhddYXlwPgEAaXOZ4gOE90dDC85FYb-fRBG3n4w7JdkTOVZLFV6YAey84ll34KHbp7B_/s320/eclipse%20party%205.jpg" width="181" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zOjKN1wPG1rgfA15v1zUguO6eZv90XBC4hiqA1ve0h0YP1xra6ezUONBW5LYByH5C9WpfRigk5qpU2iVktwYhisiocpmaSjJImzrD6EgvgcuzZJkQZzOfWOOm5Stdu4ZHqgmY-dVgeZsEDz6QOsG7FhrUuHzzll_D0CR0Mmu028_kYuNXU1TU2emajju/s4032/Eclipse%20Party%207.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1zOjKN1wPG1rgfA15v1zUguO6eZv90XBC4hiqA1ve0h0YP1xra6ezUONBW5LYByH5C9WpfRigk5qpU2iVktwYhisiocpmaSjJImzrD6EgvgcuzZJkQZzOfWOOm5Stdu4ZHqgmY-dVgeZsEDz6QOsG7FhrUuHzzll_D0CR0Mmu028_kYuNXU1TU2emajju/s320/Eclipse%20Party%207.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sZTE-u7hnt-8q2ffP1vME8XoJf9CljZBwSxnW4Ch09ecZFLcj1sLKz-jbHC2YLhDshcPAXafJrbwmL6B_ZdU7BkwifECVVp-CRIBl2s6N4u5zY2yOxEbpZiSPuid2WMdZz_GBV0fvdSOl3BgXjb79KiOAFNS3cztfjBIX0XPOiLJZ1PpgOo1cnQyWrDg/s1008/Eclipse%20Party%208.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1008" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sZTE-u7hnt-8q2ffP1vME8XoJf9CljZBwSxnW4Ch09ecZFLcj1sLKz-jbHC2YLhDshcPAXafJrbwmL6B_ZdU7BkwifECVVp-CRIBl2s6N4u5zY2yOxEbpZiSPuid2WMdZz_GBV0fvdSOl3BgXjb79KiOAFNS3cztfjBIX0XPOiLJZ1PpgOo1cnQyWrDg/s320/Eclipse%20Party%208.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBCufYKnB0tDxeb1mUysfz_BN9i2PeO0acJN-fwpc9beeWIAveSnDC1pQQGOT4R1FKOBX1lIy_E8BQ6gOnZLWEbd5NFaLsKb4R4pfI3G8OW_KajabH3aPQS2xAe85V8MDnZHzUZAa8Y_PeCiieODLdMTm4DI2XmGyhI67lk4PGCW1YbR9-RJPBw1WjgGD/s1749/Eclipse%20Party%209.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1551" data-original-width="1749" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBCufYKnB0tDxeb1mUysfz_BN9i2PeO0acJN-fwpc9beeWIAveSnDC1pQQGOT4R1FKOBX1lIy_E8BQ6gOnZLWEbd5NFaLsKb4R4pfI3G8OW_KajabH3aPQS2xAe85V8MDnZHzUZAa8Y_PeCiieODLdMTm4DI2XmGyhI67lk4PGCW1YbR9-RJPBw1WjgGD/s320/Eclipse%20Party%209.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">From Kyle, Texas, we were not on the "Ring of Fire" path, but one of the viewers reading her cellphone reported that we would be at 88.9% coverage. </span></div><p></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Helping the crowd, I never got to take a photograph with my 102 mm refractor.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/11/lunar-eclipse-8-november-2022.html" target="_blank">Lunar Eclipse 8 November 2022</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2020/12/jupiter-saturn-conjunction-2020.html" target="_blank">Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction 2020</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2020/11/redshift.html" target="_blank">Redshift: Six Years with Astronomy</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/01/cursing-moon.html" target="_blank">Cursing the Moon</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2018/12/eclipses.html" target="_blank">Eclipses?</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2021/01/an-amateur-astronomers-credo.html" target="_blank">An Amateur Astronomer’s Credo</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2021/01/when-worlds-collide.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When Worlds Collide </span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><br /></b></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-47490061728085086622023-09-14T17:56:00.007-07:002023-09-14T18:28:28.925-07:00On Second Thought<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjingCAfx-yC2yAkjOutCX6mkalNpXRoQTmgok6JWS9ECcQvullNWWf2pmYKJFF8fhHSweXMHlK5fvSvfqvf3R0vItDEB5gz8VivLoRWfSslMRJmRKgFpZSP3e_3LtDqMs8a5f3deo13Dfl49R3a2-GGVoGH4Twq680EdaXUntEmevYIGazOcWQY6Ej7pTF/s4032/secretly%20famous%20-%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjingCAfx-yC2yAkjOutCX6mkalNpXRoQTmgok6JWS9ECcQvullNWWf2pmYKJFF8fhHSweXMHlK5fvSvfqvf3R0vItDEB5gz8VivLoRWfSslMRJmRKgFpZSP3e_3LtDqMs8a5f3deo13Dfl49R3a2-GGVoGH4Twq680EdaXUntEmevYIGazOcWQY6Ej7pTF/w439-h329/secretly%20famous%20-%201.jpeg" width="439" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b></b></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjov7H60hS8gwsUurXH6xDiaY54h_J3MU1B7IFRQhXX-1ZdOVGFZbxPRF_9RqgwDnbgcBygxOxtasdpXOg7BY8pfM0Vbt0cWbYFrvRK0xsPh9YOsULgsp0Y-68X9cKOk8FUeKYwAv_0zcuZgXjgOY3Vwbzx0gzURiHW8liFEDN1yNPe5ch162wQVBu469kb/s4032/secretly%20famous%20-%202.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjov7H60hS8gwsUurXH6xDiaY54h_J3MU1B7IFRQhXX-1ZdOVGFZbxPRF_9RqgwDnbgcBygxOxtasdpXOg7BY8pfM0Vbt0cWbYFrvRK0xsPh9YOsULgsp0Y-68X9cKOk8FUeKYwAv_0zcuZgXjgOY3Vwbzx0gzURiHW8liFEDN1yNPe5ch162wQVBu469kb/w444-h334/secretly%20famous%20-%202.jpeg" width="444" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b></b><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: left;"><b><span><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2012/12/open-secrets.html" target="_blank">Open Secrets</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: left;"><b><span><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2020/04/nyc-covid-19-and-conservative-business.html" target="_blank">NYC, Covid-19, and Conservative Business Interests</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: left;"><b><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/09/all-volitional-beings-deserve-rights.html" target="_blank">All Volitional Beings Deserve Rights</a> </span></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: left;"><b><span><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2014/03/how-to-start-your-own-country.html" target="_blank">How to Start Your Own Country</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-37411120370111988232023-09-09T17:36:00.011-07:002023-09-10T07:09:58.689-07:00Stem Cell Collection<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">In preparation for autologous blood stem cell transplant after 2024, I had my red blood stem cells harvested. The procedure was successful and that is the bottom line. That final tally was the result of very many debits and credits. Even though we had this planned months ago, when I was wheeled from the transplant clinic to the main hospital to be taken to radiology for the placement of a catheter, the main desk asked if I was a walk-in. It took them a couple of hours to find a file folder with papers that then were entered into a computer file. That was just one event.</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I went to the Sarah Cannon Clinic at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio about 68 miles from home because the Sarah Cannon Clinic at St. David’s Hospital in Austin about 18 miles away will not harvest and store. At Methodist they were proud to tell me that they store stem cells for the other clinic. I do not know why that treatment was denied to me in Austin but it was. “We do not harvest and store. If we harvest, we use them.” So, we scheduled treatment down the road. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I met Methodist Hospital last year, after my initial diagnosis because the arithmetic of chance favors the second opinion. I have been happy to be treated here in Kyle because the office of Texas Oncology here is a short walk through a city park. It is very convenient. Even so, the second opinion has been helpful. (See “The Monty Hall Problem” on Wikipedia and elsewhere.) It validated the treatment regimens and provided additional insights. So, I have been back half a dozen times for lab tests and consultations.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgke2V6PnDx9Nh8AQqcutbZyRp98bFhc6GFgfnkOcq0a1KV5POYdS9IshAVGLIup0-D9ou1gExsCs751Vni1rRpHMu8KilCu5HL-yUMPknQl-Mjy1f86Sk3hTziWKuzzOB-x5tbb4WQLyg2LfWCLg4UZM16wR9Z-JM1rorXOnADCUS8-nQrj4vzPGBQPTgk/s2113/cool%20calm%20collected.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgke2V6PnDx9Nh8AQqcutbZyRp98bFhc6GFgfnkOcq0a1KV5POYdS9IshAVGLIup0-D9ou1gExsCs751Vni1rRpHMu8KilCu5HL-yUMPknQl-Mjy1f86Sk3hTziWKuzzOB-x5tbb4WQLyg2LfWCLg4UZM16wR9Z-JM1rorXOnADCUS8-nQrj4vzPGBQPTgk/s2113/cool%20calm%20collected.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1893" data-original-width="2113" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgke2V6PnDx9Nh8AQqcutbZyRp98bFhc6GFgfnkOcq0a1KV5POYdS9IshAVGLIup0-D9ou1gExsCs751Vni1rRpHMu8KilCu5HL-yUMPknQl-Mjy1f86Sk3hTziWKuzzOB-x5tbb4WQLyg2LfWCLg4UZM16wR9Z-JM1rorXOnADCUS8-nQrj4vzPGBQPTgk/s320/cool%20calm%20collected.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">All along, I have taken as much charge of my treatment as I have bandwidth for. I bought textbooks and a microscope just for orientation because I never paid much attention to life sciences. I got a book from the UT library on oncology nursing just to read twenty pages on myeloma and Revlamid® (lenalidomide). You really have to ask the right questions to get any answer and many doctors control the flow of information according to their own standards. My primary oncologist assured me that this will not require chemotherapy and we will do it with monoclonal antibodies. He sounded like Dr. McCoy. Well, it is chemotherapy; I just don’t lose my hair (yet). And right now the FDA approves monoclonal antibodies only when two other courses have failed. So, OK, I got over that last year.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">This time, the sugar coating was on the collection catheter, a Quinton line. I should have looked it up. “Oh, we’re just going to put a tube in your neck to collect blood...” In my neck, indeed, it went into my jugular and down to my superior vena cava. That much was fine, after all. It took two imaging systems (CT and fluoroscope) and an MD to place it. (I enjoyed listening to him cluck as he drove the twisty turny lane. I knew that he could do it.) “So,” I asked, “they can just take this out at the clinic?” Oh, yes, I was assured, after they remove it, they just hold the place shut for five minutes. Well, it was ten minutes and 30 minutes no talking lying flat to make sure that it is not bleeding out and I have dressings to wear for 72 hours and I cannot lift more than five pounds. All of which is going to impact my first day of work on a new job Monday. Who knew?</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNRQnb_orB044D-R7SYu6HwxCiO3Z7IA42ijD934b2MygWZcZrO-6eLb25z205KhLcrEQJMruQLLjHTWcndVEhue2dsfqYNGsOrLGxc0QswA05Mgc8kFejMYAVZqIRrR1p7SeEaqtn3WpR2JckNzPC4abZHh_ybpip8uy7NAQuLcB2sVnJgz3mRGxL5iyf/s1024/Blausen_0181_Catheter_CentralVenousAccessDevice_NonTunneled.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNRQnb_orB044D-R7SYu6HwxCiO3Z7IA42ijD934b2MygWZcZrO-6eLb25z205KhLcrEQJMruQLLjHTWcndVEhue2dsfqYNGsOrLGxc0QswA05Mgc8kFejMYAVZqIRrR1p7SeEaqtn3WpR2JckNzPC4abZHh_ybpip8uy7NAQuLcB2sVnJgz3mRGxL5iyf/s320/Blausen_0181_Catheter_CentralVenousAccessDevice_NonTunneled.png" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">All in all, there are worse outcomes. I am reminded of a comedian I saw on a late night show who told of a woman seated next to him on an airliner, on a telephone, telling her friend about having “the worst day of my life” while reclining in a cushioned couch at 38,000 feet, traveling 80% the speed of sound. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">My daughter reminded me of Adm. William H. McRaven’s parable of the sugar cookie. (See <a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2017/08/make-your-bed.html" style="color: #800180; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">"Make Your Bed."</a>) Other people tell it differently but for McRaven the point was that being chosen to be hosed down and rolled in the sand and spending the rest of the day covered like a sugar cookie has nothing to do with any choice you made. You could not have seen it coming and you could not have avoided it. It just happened to you. Sometimes, life is like that. So, get over it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And on the assets side, every one of the nurses and assistants who were my direct caregivers were capable, informative, engaging, and supportive. I enjoyed talking to all of them. Not only do I like talking about myself but I am pretty good at interviewing and I ask a lot of questions. One of my radiologists was injured in college sports and went back for a second degree. One of the consulting oncologists was a Navy doctor. I had at least a dozen great interactions over the past three months. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have been told that there are many ways to view multiple myeloma. “This is not like breast cancer. You don’t have a lot of options here. This thing is just going to run its course.” On the other hand: “Think of it like diabetes: just something you have to manage for the rest of your life.” When I was diagnosed my initial research warned me that almost half of patients have an expected end-of-life of less than one year. It is also true that the other half, 52% or more, live ten years and more. The statistical tail on the right is getting longer. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2023/01/microscopy-again.html" target="_blank">Microscopy (Again)</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-new-microscope.html" target="_blank">A New Microscope</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href=" https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/07/how-do-you-make-god-laugh.html" target="_blank">How Do You Make God Laugh?</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/12/epigenetics.html" target="_blank">Epigenetics</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><a href=" https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/04/disruptive-diagnostics-and-business-of.html" target="_blank">Disruptive Diagnostics and the Business of Science</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-6783229942866023082023-08-26T14:48:00.005-07:002023-08-26T14:55:50.068-07:00 The Cultured Carrot at Wheatsville Co-op<p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b>The Cultured Carrot was founded by Palak Sadarangani, a health coach practicing an Ayurvedic lifestyle and Kristin Simpson, a pharmacist with a holistic lifestyle approach. Both busy moms of young kids were blown away by the research and study of the microbiome. Up to 80% of our immune system is found in the gut. Eating fermented foods adds good bacteria to our guts to help maintain the balance we need for a healthy immune system. -- </b></span><a href="https://theculturedcarrot.com/pages/about-us"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b>https://theculturedcarrot.com/pages/about-us</b></span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: georgia;"><b> </b></span></o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTrXRVdJGwiZvy5IGGlutW_ntWaDyYvsoUbSWe3Pw2dta_MgP4xM5qApaZsk84ceqLI3tFRPudCE8TUtweVYZkt43hB89eOXlDCM7fbVonlCKgfPe-vALSuUaMP8khjoUsvtRMzGERAcC5ynqKbtMPJHpisG-ziuGZBOTvnlSl5o0DDDCPyOZyT4tgKWv/s4032/Cultured%20Carrot%20at%20Wheatsville.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTrXRVdJGwiZvy5IGGlutW_ntWaDyYvsoUbSWe3Pw2dta_MgP4xM5qApaZsk84ceqLI3tFRPudCE8TUtweVYZkt43hB89eOXlDCM7fbVonlCKgfPe-vALSuUaMP8khjoUsvtRMzGERAcC5ynqKbtMPJHpisG-ziuGZBOTvnlSl5o0DDDCPyOZyT4tgKWv/w359-h478/Cultured%20Carrot%20at%20Wheatsville.jpeg" width="359" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">https://theculturedcarrot.com</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We pick only the best organic veggies and preserve them like grandma used to, with salt and time. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">We transform these little jars of sunshine, mixing with herbs, quality oil and pure love.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Each is bursting with color from the diversity nature gives us and loaded with a unique biodiversity of nutrition and microbes. Getting your daily dose of prebiotic-probiotic packed nutrition has never been easier. -- </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">https://theculturedcarrot.com/pages/our-process</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><br /></b></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_W-38tX_D_3khFW9yq8p1Awt9YOdeFzKOlUES9kAtBMV1iq8PNKNN-hCd0O6Dk7--OX3yY01vP3HS52TcCktXvicG6SJ8ZFU6djcqc9V1hmRBTPf27jjczY2Jy-zLNlzq5x0RWSCnfMw4Dfju1aygW_SjI76kI1zZq6OXV6_QRxVxQxZmUcmTr-XQplEm/s2438/cultured%20carrot%20product%20line.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1730" data-original-width="2438" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_W-38tX_D_3khFW9yq8p1Awt9YOdeFzKOlUES9kAtBMV1iq8PNKNN-hCd0O6Dk7--OX3yY01vP3HS52TcCktXvicG6SJ8ZFU6djcqc9V1hmRBTPf27jjczY2Jy-zLNlzq5x0RWSCnfMw4Dfju1aygW_SjI76kI1zZq6OXV6_QRxVxQxZmUcmTr-XQplEm/w400-h284/cultured%20carrot%20product%20line.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I bought the Beleafing with cabbage, turnip, and herbs. We generally eat salad for dinner and the leafy foods often benefit from a helpful dressing. I am just not a foodie. I do not remember a moment when I lost interest in it, but like smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol, food just got less and less compelling. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Right now, my best meal is probably a handful of mixed vitamin pills and five or six tablespoons of yogurt. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Well, that, and pizza. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">I hardly remember a bad slice. I really wish that Whole Foods found some skilled people to work their ovens. I look at the pies and slices and just shake my head and walk away. We have a new vendor here in Kyle promising "313" style, but I have not tried them out yet. (313 is the area code for Detroit and I miss that style of deep dish pizza heavy on the mozzarella and no skimping on the sauce. So, we'll see... And Detroit pizza beats Chicago pizza.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Be that as it may, I have never commented on the ingredients or processes of any Wheatsville vendor. I understand that there are constraints to commercial food production. That said, my challenge here was to find a blend that did not have water as its second ingredient. $10.99 for a significant fraction of 8 ounces is a lot to pay for water. I have the same problem with mustard. Some years back, I finally bought ground mustard and began mixing it into commercial preparations such as Sir Kensington, Annie's, Woodstock, etc., etc. But you are looking at a guy who tips the scales at 60 kg and never crossed 70 kg. Then, again, there's that 313 pizza waiting for me.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS<o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>(Just put "Wheatsville" in the Search box for more.)</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2023/06/bayou-city-hemp-company.html" target="_blank">Bayou City Hemp Company</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/04/daysmith-coffee.html" target="_blank">Daysmith Coffee</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2019/01/coffee-at-co-op-tradition-and-novelty.html" target="_blank">Coffee at the Co-op Tradition and Novelty</a></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2014/05/high-brew-cold-brew-coffee.html" target="_blank">High Brew Cold Coffee</a></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2015/04/sunday-at-co-op.html" target="_blank">Sunday at the Co-op</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2014/12/awesome-austin-foods-at-wheatsville-co.html" target="_blank">Awesome Austin Foods at the Wheatsville Co-op</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2021/12/cultured-carrot-fermented-foods.html" target="_blank">Cultured Carrot Fermented Foods (2021)</a> </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-48659207257493881692023-08-13T20:02:00.006-07:002023-08-14T16:55:30.513-07:00 Pedernales Falls Public Star Party 12 August 2023<p><b style="caret-color: rgb(43, 0, 254); color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;">About a dozen of us Austin Astronomical Society club members were there with instruments. </b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b>The Perseid meteor shower was the main event. Advance publicity across social media promised the best live sky spectacle of the year; judging from the oohs and aahs of the crowd starting at first darkness, the promise came true. I left at 11:15 PM. As a regular backyard enthusiast, I see meteors all the time in my telescope, binocular, and naked eye. And, I own several meteorites. So, my focus was on talking about the stars while standing at my telescope. </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZdqAASSBMNKM_Q4MPTpsgSErl_tSDkMH0nBfHsa9ux9IDH_4HDJeMlM7TDdFyAGhgxQODr6020RvpXErsAjKPO6jyjAS8qJR7W4rcLvDydcYvMcfzlCKk8Dq3w2jPIlpCM-HNOs8Y9_jwVWIfpe1Ya-YVBW7_7eDUH8etnBRmGAn7Rge6ygHJa4wcH8wP/s934/Figure%206%20Eyepieces.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="934" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZdqAASSBMNKM_Q4MPTpsgSErl_tSDkMH0nBfHsa9ux9IDH_4HDJeMlM7TDdFyAGhgxQODr6020RvpXErsAjKPO6jyjAS8qJR7W4rcLvDydcYvMcfzlCKk8Dq3w2jPIlpCM-HNOs8Y9_jwVWIfpe1Ya-YVBW7_7eDUH8etnBRmGAn7Rge6ygHJa4wcH8wP/w476-h207/Figure%206%20Eyepieces.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Brian Lippincott explaining eyepieces to guests.<br />A good fabricator, Brian has been the Equipment Chair.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Brian Lippincott was first on the field when I arrived, all set up with his solar viewing binocular rig and large Dobsonian reflector. He went off to place the entrance signs and I set up my Explore Scientific 102-mm achromatic refractor on a Celestron AVX computerized (“go to”) tripod and mount. At home, I rely on a much simpler and easier Explore Twilight 1 manual altitude-azimuth (“alt-az”) mount but the AVX with automatic tracking and menu selections supports public engagement very well. The only ocular (“eyepiece”) was a 14-mm 82-degree Meade 5000 for 47X. It was sufficient. Soon after Brian returned, other club members trailed in and found their places.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I stopped counting visitors at 125, and I estimated 200 overall, which was the headcount that Joyce and Jim Lynch at the greeting table said that they expected. At the Sky Theater mini-megalith Ed Labelle and Jim Lynch welcomed our guests. In the growing darkness, Ed devoted about an hour to explaining our local Stonehenge and highlighted the basics of viewing the sky, measuring distances with your hand, the general mechanics of celestial motion, and how to dim your cell phone. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtEvMkol5zaEY3oHGeiSwX6WjM0fghKk3CIEsySkeoU7XwRfUm2w-_3Ig_jy74iAvxcmq1R0Bz6wnggIT0sQcjprRSB3qNSAYA9GPSwc03JVQF6x-Bn-zdrlhEx1Rlsn9KOdDJz-seVuBrakxaimGvlUGmrU6AJIhG200-lfiLiIqXdG4G_f44ICnQ9tW7/s4032/Snapshots%20-%2022%20Ed%20Labelle%20at%20Sky%20Theater.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtEvMkol5zaEY3oHGeiSwX6WjM0fghKk3CIEsySkeoU7XwRfUm2w-_3Ig_jy74iAvxcmq1R0Bz6wnggIT0sQcjprRSB3qNSAYA9GPSwc03JVQF6x-Bn-zdrlhEx1Rlsn9KOdDJz-seVuBrakxaimGvlUGmrU6AJIhG200-lfiLiIqXdG4G_f44ICnQ9tW7/w400-h300/Snapshots%20-%2022%20Ed%20Labelle%20at%20Sky%20Theater.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Austin Astro Outreach Chair Ed Labelle at the<br />Obelisk talking to the visitors.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I began a four-star alignment and soon had guests. For most of my audiences for most of the night, I was focused on Messier 22. It is large and bright and I was able to talk from memory about the astronomy and physics of globular clusters without getting lost in the narrative while showing people where to look and how to focus for themselves. Over the course of the night, stargazing from the scopes of other members, many guests got to view the Hercules Cluster, (Messier 13) and they remarked on that view while visiting with me.</span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2-Ud3p7AExX-rOAR6_YlySc-vRKYpWAAeTBFZ5697SiEm5kpIghwKtUamaoRY7ktZu9ek9Mgv2Vb7Z7xqDRp8a6CxO9SFTiWZLE-GhvLp98LE7UyK31lY_w2-iYAhkVaoakyhkGMb9r3eFrU8PavYzHpvQ5W7bKNTUEFGvD7okOy5HRugfGhuXMpkA5Kr/s605/8%20Equipment%20Check%20(S).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="605" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2-Ud3p7AExX-rOAR6_YlySc-vRKYpWAAeTBFZ5697SiEm5kpIghwKtUamaoRY7ktZu9ek9Mgv2Vb7Z7xqDRp8a6CxO9SFTiWZLE-GhvLp98LE7UyK31lY_w2-iYAhkVaoakyhkGMb9r3eFrU8PavYzHpvQ5W7bKNTUEFGvD7okOy5HRugfGhuXMpkA5Kr/w400-h340/8%20Equipment%20Check%20(S).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Overture! Curtain! Lights!<br />This is it: the night of nights!</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">But I started with Messier 11, the Wild Duck cluster because I aligned on Arcturus, Antares, Vega, and then Altair; and it was a short drop to Messier 11. For myself, this was a first sighting. I had tried two nights before from my backyard, but the view was unremarkable and I did not log it. This time, I could see the cluster and its red and orange stars. The guests were also happy. “Wild Duck” is a cooler name than “Messier 11.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgguns5c5oXFh1dbGE3_h_adE6JrXYjHJYmZo0YJOmc5w5ATT-lV57_5KX7m39zC-OvaSf1CdaZjaxfeEAV0XgnQpJuyFGGoc_JKrBnO_58CTaoC5JcCAteAElCDt-YJETbe_FfioKQ4TVJ-peuVXwYnxmr1a9drv5xN7kVZxmvyVlxBH3VB6HCwcCm9Y5j/s583/6%20Fixin%20to%20Start.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="464" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgguns5c5oXFh1dbGE3_h_adE6JrXYjHJYmZo0YJOmc5w5ATT-lV57_5KX7m39zC-OvaSf1CdaZjaxfeEAV0XgnQpJuyFGGoc_JKrBnO_58CTaoC5JcCAteAElCDt-YJETbe_FfioKQ4TVJ-peuVXwYnxmr1a9drv5xN7kVZxmvyVlxBH3VB6HCwcCm9Y5j/w319-h400/6%20Fixin%20to%20Start.jpg" width="319" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Fixin' to Start: Many club members brought<br />large Dobsonians.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A steady stream of people in small groups and families, came and went and lined up again until about 11:00. We also looked at Beta Scorpii (Graffias) because some had seen Albireo at another instrument. They easily remembered the stunning yellow and blue pair. I explained that this is not as pretty, but these stars are truly gravitationally locked whereas Albireo is an accidental arrangement. I then talked about the 200 years between Galileo and William Herschel when it was assumed that the stars are more or less randomly arranged and are more or less alike with differences in color perhaps relating to their temperatures by analogy with an iron bar heated in furnace. Then, about 1810 William Hershel changed our paradigm. My groups viewed Messier 7, Messier 80, and Messier 4. After I pointed to Mizar and Alcor naked eye, we viewed the system in the telescope, and I indicated Mu Scorpii, the Eyes of the Lion, another naked-eye double. I suggested that club members with larger instruments could show them that Polaris is also a double star.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Then, I went searching for Messier 51 (another first light for myself). My three guests agreed that they could see the small grayer patch in the middle of the field of view. And, again, I recommended that more aperture would be rewarding. Finding myself alone, I packed up.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2023/07/austin-astro-public-star-party.html" target="_blank">Austin Astro Public Star Party</a></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/10/kyle-astronomy-club-international.html" target="_blank">Kyle Astronomy Club Observe the Moon Night</a></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/07/a-good-entry-level-telescope.html" target="_blank">A Good Entry-Level Telescope</a></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/03/images-from-sxsw-2013.html" target="_blank">Images from SXSW 2013</a> </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><br /></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-16779954129960843642023-08-10T16:05:00.007-07:002023-08-10T16:38:30.717-07:00The Universe of 1962<span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b>Laurel found a Sears 6307B 60mm F=700 (f/11.67) from 1962 on the street. I brought it home and I bought 0.965 inch eyepieces for it from The Surplus Shed. </b><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"> </span></o:p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;">On 2 August, I viewed the gibbous Moon to align the finder scope (with crosshairs) and to check the eyepieces. I bought a standard set: 6 mm, 12.5 mm, and 20 mm. The telescope came with those, as do many such even today, though more often, just two, 10mm and 20mm. These were Huygens eyepieces, a two-lens design from the 17<sup>th</sup> century. I also bought a 16 mm “wide view” Kellner, a three-lens 19<sup>th</sup> century improvement. I was cautioned by a friend online at Cloudy Nights that these replacements being plastic were not as good as the original equipment. That was easy to accept. The original 6mm eyepiece was with the scope and it is made of metal and (apparently) glass. However, it had a problem with corrosion or something that would not come off with Zeiss lens cleaner. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtz9CHZ3P8LHQ6BNoyyuITeC2zJ7L5JSrXDlnbsL1YR_2Qqj-5KznEZblZj9EfY3RcBGK5v6nFrnYmulkgYJIc9vFMcKTj_EsSmcn5ursJWoVn01hjAwD1cgb5f58vnIHc7_ZG_uJdgN-HM3izbi9dppcEE8tjDT7GHUTS7fHIWwwnrVgFCm3sqqncQC3A/s3805/Diagonal%20fine%20tuning%20rod%20copy.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2372" data-original-width="3805" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtz9CHZ3P8LHQ6BNoyyuITeC2zJ7L5JSrXDlnbsL1YR_2Qqj-5KznEZblZj9EfY3RcBGK5v6nFrnYmulkgYJIc9vFMcKTj_EsSmcn5ursJWoVn01hjAwD1cgb5f58vnIHc7_ZG_uJdgN-HM3izbi9dppcEE8tjDT7GHUTS7fHIWwwnrVgFCm3sqqncQC3A/s320/Diagonal%20fine%20tuning%20rod%20copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The next night, I split the double star </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">beta Scorpii</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> (Graffias) with the Kellner at 43X. The view was not wide enough to take in all of Messier 7 the Ptolemy Cluster but I was satisfied. I could not locate Messier 80 or M22 which was disappointing. I believe that the optics would do it, but fussing and fiddling with the over-engineered and under-built mount was frustrating. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I will nod to the engineering, however. Unlike a modern telescope, you focus this well enough with the eyepiece draw tube and then finely tune the focus with the controls. Similarly, the altiude and azimuth are found roughly close and then, with those bolts tight, you adjust the alt-az settings with knobs on the fine tuning engagement. With more practice, I could learn to do it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The next morning I viewed Jupiter’s bands, its polar band – a pleasant surprise; why we call long focal length refractors “planet killers” – and noted that three of its moons were visible. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpldfyg2PcSwdeapbS9aKYw8Okj0tTh0h3GGBw_3h1-DNeN5kH0c-VfnbABMbGWaeSfJMk_b0Xvp-P7NUcjAkMho9d9R-IVfhZAVDXDpOt7SVnBsskjy8dfttesQd2rwmUyghYGUgdcGjpsDYF0xug8RSWN3-RGT2BQF_Dhz834RRExvuVExo8Giu02t0t/s930/Focus%20Fully%20Extended%20copy.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="930" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpldfyg2PcSwdeapbS9aKYw8Okj0tTh0h3GGBw_3h1-DNeN5kH0c-VfnbABMbGWaeSfJMk_b0Xvp-P7NUcjAkMho9d9R-IVfhZAVDXDpOt7SVnBsskjy8dfttesQd2rwmUyghYGUgdcGjpsDYF0xug8RSWN3-RGT2BQF_Dhz834RRExvuVExo8Giu02t0t/s320/Focus%20Fully%20Extended%20copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I then turned to Messier 42, the Orion Nebula, found it easily, and (another surprise) the Trapezium was clear and bright and sharp.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Happy with the experience, I put the telescope away very carefully. My current instruments are much better, of course, but if I had to live with only this, I could. And just to note, I do have two Celestron Huygens oculars with standard 1-¼ inch barrels. Putting them into a 70mm refractor, I kidded online at CN that I was viewing the universe as it looked in 1650. It looked OK. Better instrumentation is better, of course, but double stars, open clusters, a bright globular were all truly visible and enjoyable.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-andromeda-galaxy.html" target="_blank">The Andromeda Galaxy</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/06/xi-scorpii.html" target="_blank">Xi Scorpii</a></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2021/03/an-online-class-in-astrophysics.html" target="_blank">An Online Class in Astrophysics</a></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2020/11/viewing-mars.html" target="_blank">Viewing Mars</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p></div></div>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-61755393345375137302023-08-07T08:01:00.009-07:002023-08-08T07:22:38.620-07:00 ArmadilloCon 45 <p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgsps8Di6y2kP1VkRPuN2Soy_MsJ7jNFA64zpebgSvZ6UQddwK9ui18XVhZDjJmYBE9vqaPJePpPwtYvLmmqpKXZTKaWe0wXhmfnOAx6CtLzHnzAUadJZAfzmEG56rzldu9q5WbqKIZ2b8NQaZqbu3H7ztp4CKu1tpvkZUNkOZJa4A5aNmYYkbhuPf4WWl/s3360/2023%20Con%2045%20Poster%20copy.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3360" data-original-width="2640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgsps8Di6y2kP1VkRPuN2Soy_MsJ7jNFA64zpebgSvZ6UQddwK9ui18XVhZDjJmYBE9vqaPJePpPwtYvLmmqpKXZTKaWe0wXhmfnOAx6CtLzHnzAUadJZAfzmEG56rzldu9q5WbqKIZ2b8NQaZqbu3H7ztp4CKu1tpvkZUNkOZJa4A5aNmYYkbhuPf4WWl/s320/2023%20Con%2045%20Poster%20copy.jpg" width="251" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>This year's poster was designed <br />'by Gonzalo Alvarez who also <br />created an RPG based on <br />Aztec mythology. This year, <br />there was no t-shirt.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Austin’s ArmadilloCon is a science fiction convention for writers, artists, editors, and publishers. At the Capital City Coin Club, where I have been a member and occasionally an officer since 2011, my friend, Kurt Baty[1], kept telling me to go to this. I would nod and thank him and do nothing. Finally, I said, “Kurt, I’ve been to a Trekker con and I met Armin Shimerman and had a good time and all but it’s really not something that I do.” He replied, “This is not like any other science fiction convention. No one will be in StarFleet uniforms. It’s just for writers, artists, editors, and publishers." He was right. This year, I bought a half-page ad in the showguide, congratulating the convention and FACT, the Fandom Association of Central Texas.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Laurel and I attend because of our shared interests in the craft of writing. She is a murder mystery fan and has edited for Bantam Doubleday. For myself, writing non-fiction, the break-out sessions on plot, structure, and character help me to bring my public into a document which they really do not want to read. I also benefit from learning about marketing, advertising, contracting, and other business issues. And it is a good time to be surrounded by other creatives, to socialize, listen, and chat. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1hhOfbqShaWmkIkhHktDuMJJxyaVmDD4XIJYz1t3pxPoEI7d_rqzKX_oO1xw_jmqjFRq8eNudM5Nf0qfKig3KMIqAqzkjwxSxesMxLNfGcLtpeTx-2798nNxJepFDYG_HhWAsy2SH6RbBHOTrNlUlP6yzGEnPAXBPreZq0g6zRuNhGcU-RYP93Li2xVE/s1069/Armadillo%20Con%2045%20Special%20Guests%20copy.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="1069" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1hhOfbqShaWmkIkhHktDuMJJxyaVmDD4XIJYz1t3pxPoEI7d_rqzKX_oO1xw_jmqjFRq8eNudM5Nf0qfKig3KMIqAqzkjwxSxesMxLNfGcLtpeTx-2798nNxJepFDYG_HhWAsy2SH6RbBHOTrNlUlP6yzGEnPAXBPreZq0g6zRuNhGcU-RYP93Li2xVE/w508-h295/Armadillo%20Con%2045%20Special%20Guests%20copy.png" width="508" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>Special Guests. Charles Siros was this year's FGoH. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Returning this year, </span><b style="font-family: georgia;">NASA flight trainer Bill Frank</b><span style="font-family: georgia;"> led a panel discussion on the many ways in which </span><b style="font-family: georgia;">space tries to kill you</b><span style="font-family: georgia;">. How do you deal with a fire on a space station? You wake up and find everyone else unconscious: what are your priorities? You are on the Moon, a mile from the station and your air supply valve fails closed: what do you do next?</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmqR-f0lTAGldrBl4DPLGD8gJnVR43PSta6LUTR-MxDEgZpfjx6SgvHq4zvYeqLbb-07MvFtgC5Rytz0wXY1J-cItJS16-HrvHCrt3AFSmu1dZyrPixMQ3UhqMag3l39sqpAldlClf71iNYhL0rylonHGzVSFscazQosLP4z5IO-l4KqzsHLAxrNfSqzRq/s3641/Space%20Tries%20to%20Kill%20You%20-%205%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1312" data-original-width="3641" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmqR-f0lTAGldrBl4DPLGD8gJnVR43PSta6LUTR-MxDEgZpfjx6SgvHq4zvYeqLbb-07MvFtgC5Rytz0wXY1J-cItJS16-HrvHCrt3AFSmu1dZyrPixMQ3UhqMag3l39sqpAldlClf71iNYhL0rylonHGzVSFscazQosLP4z5IO-l4KqzsHLAxrNfSqzRq/w527-h190/Space%20Tries%20to%20Kill%20You%20-%205%20copy.jpg" width="527" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>"Space Tries to Kill You" filling up early. </b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: georgia;">“Still Persevering on Mars”</b><span style="font-family: georgia;"> was presented by </span><b style="font-family: georgia;">NASA/JPL scientist John K. Gibbons</b><span style="font-family: georgia;">. With my own small journal filled with background for a story I have not written, I took a lot of notes. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0EDUZBPiRD4vc3LS38SaBb_8-vWSJC3eBqpR_0TTZWdb-5B5Yshuly4OvGjkLTqABWfYiwHRRR-eU5wDs_69khWq-CkvEtJ9MJeZe-mtEGYUg1lwC6Yo23VoX1_pmNd50vDgai6nuPRBdrojMUTDntSoKO1nKku90zJXqzA78To9U92fyocjQ3UBX6kBj/s3687/Mars%20Perseverence%20Gibbons%204%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1253" data-original-width="3687" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0EDUZBPiRD4vc3LS38SaBb_8-vWSJC3eBqpR_0TTZWdb-5B5Yshuly4OvGjkLTqABWfYiwHRRR-eU5wDs_69khWq-CkvEtJ9MJeZe-mtEGYUg1lwC6Yo23VoX1_pmNd50vDgai6nuPRBdrojMUTDntSoKO1nKku90zJXqzA78To9U92fyocjQ3UBX6kBj/w495-h168/Mars%20Perseverence%20Gibbons%204%20copy.jpg" width="495" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>Persevering on Mars</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">I know </span><b style="font-family: georgia;">Rob Pettingill</b><span style="font-family: georgia;"> from the Austin Astronomical Society, but I met him first through a computer guy coffee klatch that Laurel attended. Rob’s engagement in astronomy is through astrophotography and I have two of his works printed on steel and glass displayed on an office wall. Rob’s presentation was about the established </span><b style="font-family: georgia;">techniques and new technologies in astrophotography</b><span style="font-family: georgia;"> for amateurs. The main attraction for me was in the mapping of image data to visible colors.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>David Afrarishad of Baen Books</b> led a panel session with <b>Stina Leicht, Dantzel Cherry, </b>and<b> C. S. "Seth" Humble</b> on <b>religion.</b> It is deep in human culture and except for special cases such as <i>Dune</i> and planet Bajor, we seldom consider it in character building or world building. Science fiction tends to default to the Star Trek assumption that we have evolved past all of that. But that is just not likely for any foreseeable future. Even atheists grow up in families and cultures where religion is at least present and often important. And why is Catholicism the default in stories written by people who grew up in Protestant America? Seth Humble pointed out that religion begins with mystery. Stina Leicht called it “the big, black unknown.” She also said that most people confuse morality and ethics and those two with religion. However, Leicht said, religious people do not confuse morality and ethics. Danzel Cherry said that she grew up LDS (“Mormon”) and that gave her a different perspective. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The <b>History</b> session was disappointing. The showguide asked: “How does a horsedrawn carriage get down a mountain?” But nothing like that came of this. Each panelist complained that their self-identified minority was unfairly presented or under-represented in popular history. There were some takeaways. Scrivener was touted as better than Word because it allows keeping backstory notes in the document. Wikis have pros and cons; some people like them. The writers agreed that research can be a rabbit hole that prevents productive writing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0jUVbQVxJzcavcwEt5dRsVD95kz8YCoYsx8tM438YxJsV3wt1nZwJOn_UnqqdPZF8szUFmrNahhbsdhBEHE8XhEpZrtLdu7UTucudFTQYE1U8pQVqJh9kuzSAGPGFMvjguG16rHaPYeNMBDyD2zDwJtpLcl0sI7Hzstb5N5JYSoY9aFVqg3PXFp8013CK/s4032/Future%20of%20Publishing%20-%2014%20copy.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0jUVbQVxJzcavcwEt5dRsVD95kz8YCoYsx8tM438YxJsV3wt1nZwJOn_UnqqdPZF8szUFmrNahhbsdhBEHE8XhEpZrtLdu7UTucudFTQYE1U8pQVqJh9kuzSAGPGFMvjguG16rHaPYeNMBDyD2zDwJtpLcl0sI7Hzstb5N5JYSoY9aFVqg3PXFp8013CK/w473-h355/Future%20of%20Publishing%20-%2014%20copy.jpeg" width="473" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>The Future of Publishing.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>The Future of Publishing</b> was a wide-ranging discussion on the business of writing today. <b>Barbara Ann Wright, Alexis Glynn Latner, </b>and <b>Rick Klaw</b> spoke for self-published and small press markets. <b>Stina Leicht</b> is published by Saga Press of Simon and Schuster. Writing is a business and the craft of authoring is the easy part. Leicht recommended getting an agent, advice she gave in other sessions and chatting in the lobby. Your agent will protect your legal interests and be a buffer for any discussions with the publisher. Rick Klaw said to always negotiate the contract. He said that even if a small press cannot offer more money, they can always provide you with more copies of the book. The others all agreed. Early on in the hour, everyone nodded when Klaw said that they have no idea what the future will be like. (In the car on the way home, Laurel said that they said the same thing last year.) Toward the end, Latner said that so much as changed in the last five years (or three)—from Twitter to TikTok and Booktok—that no one knows what is coming next. They did agree, however, that history is cyclic and vampire stories are popular again. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Laurel and I do not buy more “stuff.” We have too much already and need to get rid of it. But we bought stuff anyway. She got a new coffee cup and I came home with seven books. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i style="font-family: georgia;">Loki’s Ring</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">by Stina Leicht (Saga Press Simon & Schuster) (autographed)</span></li><li><i style="font-family: georgia;">Rich Man’s Sky</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">by Wil McCarthy (Baen Books) (autographed)</span></li><li><i style="font-family: georgia;">The Collapsium</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">by Wil McCarthy (Baen Books) (autographed)</span></li><li><i style="font-family: georgia;">Fugitive Spark</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">by Matt Levin (Self)</span></li><li><i style="font-family: georgia;">Guided by Starlight</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">by Matt Levin (Self)</span></li><li><i style="font-family: georgia;">The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 4</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">edited and published by Allan Kaster (InfiniVox). (This was an informative discussion. Allan reads sf magazines and contacts the authors he likes for his hard science fiction anthologies. He explained that authors sell first serial rights to the magazines. So, after publication there, they can resell the work. I replied that I knew the phrase “first serial rights” from my own contracts but no one ever asked me to republish so it did not sink in. Now I know.)</span></li><li><i style="font-family: georgia;">Commune 2000 A.D</i><span style="font-family: georgia;">. by Mack Reynolds (Bantam, 1974). I got this for an interesting look at the present but it is really about the world of 1974. That is always true of all speculative fiction whether horror, scifi, fantasy, or alternate timeline romance. The best immersion in the world of 1810 is found in Jane Austen. As for the future, see above from the experts:</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><b style="font-family: georgia;">We have no idea what will happen three years from now.</b></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span>[1] Kurt Baty has been on the organizing committee often and one year was the FGoH (Fan Guest of Honor). Kurt wrote an article for me about the Antikythera Device for the Historical Astronomy Division of the AAS. I wrote up his discovery of the first coins struck by the Denver Mint. The accepted narrative had been thin; Kurt did some digging. I placed his story in the </span><i>E-Sylum</i><span> of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, my blog at the ANA Member pages (abandoned in 2021), and the Michigan State Numismatic Society </span><i>MichMatist.</i><span> (The </span><i>MichMatist</i><span> </span>paid 10 cents a word up to $100; that made my life easier when I edited the magazine because it set a natural limit on lengths. In the wake of Covid, they stopped paying and I stopped writing for them. Anyway, astronomy took me away from numismatics).</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><b style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/08/armadillocon-44-day-3.html" target="_blank">Armadillocon 44 Day 3</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/08/armadillocon-44-day-1-and-day-2.html" target="_blank">Armadillocon 44 Day 1 and Day 2</a> </span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><a href=" https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2019/08/dealers-make-show-armadillocon-41-day-3.html" target="_blank">ArmadilloCon 41 Day 3 Part 2</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2018/08/armadillocon-40-part-2.html" target="_blank">ArmadilloCon 40 Part 2</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2017/08/armadillocon-39.html" target="_blank">ArmadilloCon 39</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/08/my-armadillocon-presentations.html" target="_blank">My ArmadilloCon Presentations</a> </span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-4731026758607127642023-07-09T09:25:00.006-07:002023-08-07T13:38:45.617-07:00Austin Astro Public Star Party<p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b>According to the registration desk, about 100 visitors came to the Austin Astronomical Society public star party at Pedernales Falls State Park last night (8 July). The club works closely with Texas Parks and Wildlife there and also at Inks Lake State Park. Half a dozen of us have been vetted with background checks to be volunteer docents. Pedernales extends their closing time from 10:00 PM to 11:30 PM for these events and beyond that we can take the time we need to pack up and close up. The club maintains a cargo container converted into a lecture room and storage for our largest telescopes. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Club members bring a wide range of instruments to these events. This time there was a plethora of large Dobsonian reflectors, with apertures of 18, 22, and 24 inches. I brought a 130mm (5-inch) tabletop dob mounted on a altitude-azimuth mount. The other AWB 130 on the field came with two new stargazers and this was the "first light" for their telescope. They had hoped to view Messier 101, Messier 81 and 82 galaxies in and around Ursa Major but the fish were not biting. You really need to understand what you are looking at and looking for. A couple of star parties back, another stargazer and I were laughing about the times we went back and forth looking for the thing we kept passing up. Nonetheless, I told our new friends about the <span style="color: #800180;"><b><a href="https://www.astroleague.org" target="_blank">Astronomical League</a></b></span>: membership in the AL comes with your membership in Austin Astro and the AL offers mentored, self-paced observing programs with certificates and pins. One of the AL programs is pursuing double stars and I helped Manfred and Melissa find Albireo, Zubenelgenubi, Mu Scorpii, and Alcor-Mizar. "See, you have four down and 46 to go." </span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvl-hmV7pY1Sc5rC_csWRthrSnBIwYSc-9-12i66I7p-_myTLlsXLHqwirtxBUhePGDr_Gtm-ZEBV25YHSQMKLv0uJvQ0uQtQtanhfr0URTkQHEaOzaznv2BaVJ9LqMdjt98vERxlFYMx6X6CfiySnDvUTag658CottfDsA2jcSA6m4ZBxUwn9L6eaTy2j/s2993/Terry%20Phillips.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2262" data-original-width="2993" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvl-hmV7pY1Sc5rC_csWRthrSnBIwYSc-9-12i66I7p-_myTLlsXLHqwirtxBUhePGDr_Gtm-ZEBV25YHSQMKLv0uJvQ0uQtQtanhfr0URTkQHEaOzaznv2BaVJ9LqMdjt98vERxlFYMx6X6CfiySnDvUTag658CottfDsA2jcSA6m4ZBxUwn9L6eaTy2j/w435-h329/Terry%20Phillips.jpg" width="435" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small; font-weight: 700;">Terry Phillips explains how a reflector telescope works.</span><br style="font-family: helvetica; font-weight: 700;" /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small; font-weight: 700;">Terry has served as vice president, secretary, and president.</span><br style="font-family: helvetica; font-weight: 700;" /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBj8e-xz4EvpoedCIDZXCzxYDSptLVD0cXPuEZbhaPgQ5lZV8vmFpKZFTa4S8zOnG7FNKJgSpLn1gpkySRyIZoyYoXR1s5eJhnmfhVc5MTG8PRDtWrkK5TPt1GYb2VBATDDNotYXLhZrJg5AZf5vXYnJEurRnkTqFPR_HFWeFX17XWwqmgtKgU07cGVGv/s3080/Tracy%20and%20David%20Urban%20with%20a%206-inch%20Dobsonian.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3080" data-original-width="2197" height="383" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPBj8e-xz4EvpoedCIDZXCzxYDSptLVD0cXPuEZbhaPgQ5lZV8vmFpKZFTa4S8zOnG7FNKJgSpLn1gpkySRyIZoyYoXR1s5eJhnmfhVc5MTG8PRDtWrkK5TPt1GYb2VBATDDNotYXLhZrJg5AZf5vXYnJEurRnkTqFPR_HFWeFX17XWwqmgtKgU07cGVGv/w273-h383/Tracy%20and%20David%20Urban%20with%20a%206-inch%20Dobsonian.jpg" width="273" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>Tracy and David Urban brought their<br />6-inch Newtonian on a Dobsonian mount.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_eydtHkZeCJ_0lL37y2nld5vdQka-OllAHok8LR4XAD71xEOV3WWiUmVOxOGObTYrT7DukkqPb-tMWzh1bKEsb9MpO4ZmsqCsqX1YKZMNLdx3PWSTU-_ndE988lf2RqEPlbTntogl9ekx0QYUWWMC5wdYajgRtGdi3aC2tk1OYYHK0MWqdjFFa15UreZP/s2706/Abhir%20Joshi%20and%20his%20Large%20Dobsonian.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2641" data-original-width="2706" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_eydtHkZeCJ_0lL37y2nld5vdQka-OllAHok8LR4XAD71xEOV3WWiUmVOxOGObTYrT7DukkqPb-tMWzh1bKEsb9MpO4ZmsqCsqX1YKZMNLdx3PWSTU-_ndE988lf2RqEPlbTntogl9ekx0QYUWWMC5wdYajgRtGdi3aC2tk1OYYHK0MWqdjFFa15UreZP/s320/Abhir%20Joshi%20and%20his%20Large%20Dobsonian.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Abhir Joshi and his large Dobsonian.</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGAjLzbOVwV8PcPr09kcJPrGgdgwTEs0AyWKH-MP3MsEVZ1ExLAn3pzVBYywDYQa40aylzvztq1s90dYUR0FV4KmCrT5pV2eWwTOvrTWmKpC173nSfM_0dd8PTHsutn6RNabTdlTN9l0iqFh32WingVnUT27Vpvi4v7GcC92wnr7fgwPHTv0rlam98298/s3018/Jim%20Gardner%20and%20His%20Takahashi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2237" data-original-width="3018" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGAjLzbOVwV8PcPr09kcJPrGgdgwTEs0AyWKH-MP3MsEVZ1ExLAn3pzVBYywDYQa40aylzvztq1s90dYUR0FV4KmCrT5pV2eWwTOvrTWmKpC173nSfM_0dd8PTHsutn6RNabTdlTN9l0iqFh32WingVnUT27Vpvi4v7GcC92wnr7fgwPHTv0rlam98298/s320/Jim%20Gardner%20and%20His%20Takahashi.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>The key to Jim Gardner's astrophotography rig <br />is the very nice Takahashi refractor (white at left).</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkaOrGWmhrk_W9MD7s1Pbsfv5J81le4jZa4hnRpoVfMiaJ66Lr5z_B02SceNLtmVbqAMDBE8t-VUtEJLOydfltdMjZgL2V07miXmaQ3g6DQpI2UtdKqnuLAe4RNtB9Gv1g3hwOs5vPAphYubItIZ1lPAJwO1sDbl6JszbnSnpb5qQ1pJQzdZ9UBOnkA_MT/s4032/Manfred%20Trent%20with%20his%20AWB%20130%20%20-%2021.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="505" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkaOrGWmhrk_W9MD7s1Pbsfv5J81le4jZa4hnRpoVfMiaJ66Lr5z_B02SceNLtmVbqAMDBE8t-VUtEJLOydfltdMjZgL2V07miXmaQ3g6DQpI2UtdKqnuLAe4RNtB9Gv1g3hwOs5vPAphYubItIZ1lPAJwO1sDbl6JszbnSnpb5qQ1pJQzdZ9UBOnkA_MT/w379-h505/Manfred%20Trent%20with%20his%20AWB%20130%20%20-%2021.jpeg" width="379" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>Manfred Trent with his 130-mm tabletop Newtonian <br />from Astronomers Without Borders. He built a light shroud.<br />His wife, Melissa, is encouraging him to add an alt-az mount.</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_eLmNvUkdwMJ8GWLuH238llSGQ6UO4JjYXsxNpMRwI2IwUjcx_nCkysu5nWVxowbgZFciZW6uZIuk9jnIVnWkD1qIn6n7arh4Fil414DC-fcq6ZzifFELH0xfdBxdZD7hFRRMLRc8uzmujognmRztSeq8MwhuGE2McNosVBaBPIEz5y37a1s0VAE1vtAS/s4032/Mike%20Marotta%20collimates%20his%20AWB%20130%20-%207.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_eLmNvUkdwMJ8GWLuH238llSGQ6UO4JjYXsxNpMRwI2IwUjcx_nCkysu5nWVxowbgZFciZW6uZIuk9jnIVnWkD1qIn6n7arh4Fil414DC-fcq6ZzifFELH0xfdBxdZD7hFRRMLRc8uzmujognmRztSeq8MwhuGE2McNosVBaBPIEz5y37a1s0VAE1vtAS/w342-h456/Mike%20Marotta%20collimates%20his%20AWB%20130%20-%207.jpeg" width="342" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>Collimating the other AWB 130 on the field last night.<br />(Explore Scientific Twilight-1mount.)<br />Retail from Astronomers Without Borders is $249.<br />Celestron donates some of the wholesale price to<br />support the not-for-profit mission of AWB.<br /><br /></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY59RUyC_QvBIrVXahmreyxFDrM3yCMVDyvYCzBaMrFAg0D6JMwLhsWSmxk2GXOnuXPGJvmUE79I_w08OJRM5NJIyRwuKGMNZAQStj-atEOzQHoGHNmNdSEfPvPLMd4GSwCF-UMqDyCkDXfioEgpGm-SIbbfuUcrXkRJm2epN6V_YrjJNKJKL1N__UUqRf/s4032/Ron%20Carman%20brought%20one%20he%20did%20not%20make%20-%2020.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="461" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY59RUyC_QvBIrVXahmreyxFDrM3yCMVDyvYCzBaMrFAg0D6JMwLhsWSmxk2GXOnuXPGJvmUE79I_w08OJRM5NJIyRwuKGMNZAQStj-atEOzQHoGHNmNdSEfPvPLMd4GSwCF-UMqDyCkDXfioEgpGm-SIbbfuUcrXkRJm2epN6V_YrjJNKJKL1N__UUqRf/w346-h461/Ron%20Carman%20brought%20one%20he%20did%20not%20make%20-%2020.jpeg" width="346" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>Austin Astro stalwart Ron Carman brought a telescope<br />that he did not make. A brief biography <br />ran in <a href="https://austinastro.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/ST%20Archive/ST201604.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: #800180;"><i>Sidereal Times </i>for April 2016</span></a>.</b></span><br /> </td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY1epSGtbsYFPuvXekyYiIUaXPElRbG6kUIZkIQ7hMdpBplbXaDA_iHALQWp-roSJEO6hLrcJ9ESqq3CQmFWHRLeRe3EjMf8S6bAmgnsBVQumZUcektY27jep2ZIzbeuQmfjdi-rdXE8iWUrj1lzB2PHiolT4HIxhElG7fxy8F7F9iJEEoZ3DyW45u-szV/s4032/Jamie%20Canfield%20at%20Registration%20Desk%20-%203.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="493" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY1epSGtbsYFPuvXekyYiIUaXPElRbG6kUIZkIQ7hMdpBplbXaDA_iHALQWp-roSJEO6hLrcJ9ESqq3CQmFWHRLeRe3EjMf8S6bAmgnsBVQumZUcektY27jep2ZIzbeuQmfjdi-rdXE8iWUrj1lzB2PHiolT4HIxhElG7fxy8F7F9iJEEoZ3DyW45u-szV/w370-h493/Jamie%20Canfield%20at%20Registration%20Desk%20-%203.jpeg" width="370" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><b>Jamie Canfield worked the registration desk along <br />with Joyce Lynch. Jamie is the VP this year. <br />She previously served as secretary. <br />Joyce has been the editor of <i>Sidereal Times</i> <br />and the club president. Before Covid, when she was <br />the Outreach chair we did events at schools <br />and libraries as often as three times a week. <br /></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b style="font-family: helvetica;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS</b></p><p><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/05/library-telescope-project.html" target="_blank">Library Telescope Project</a></b></span></p><p><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-night-sky-with-national-g.html" target="_blank">The Night Sky with National G</a></b></span></p><p><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2019/10/physics-for-astronomers-works-of-steven.html" target="_blank">Physics for Astronomers: The Works of Steven Weinberg</a></b></span></p><p><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2022/10/kyle-astronomy-club-international.html" target="_blank">Kyle Astronomy Club International Observe the Moon Night</a></b></span></p><p><br /></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-58128735510999631012023-06-13T07:07:00.002-07:002023-06-13T07:11:21.462-07:00 Bayou City Hemp Company<p><b style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;">I met the local sales rep at the Wheatsville Co-op last Sunday. It has been perhaps six months since any vendor was set up when I was in, so it was a good opportunity to chat and find out about their products.</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKtckWVDoCpk2f_GA9dRArODKGBMMu2p1LbwMgTmZisXySlv97BPQqVlcRJi8tzdqQCWasEMGofsrWz0gxTkMtE_rW-F5HAFt4MFzWYKbz-A3xYeAqAwz9TbS1OlvXwK_3xsQrbvfw1yjpzwlg6aMlasV7ISrI_vo0RLHh3y8Se6s0CShsyQQ1bBsuwA/s4032/Sam%20Curtiss%20-%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKtckWVDoCpk2f_GA9dRArODKGBMMu2p1LbwMgTmZisXySlv97BPQqVlcRJi8tzdqQCWasEMGofsrWz0gxTkMtE_rW-F5HAFt4MFzWYKbz-A3xYeAqAwz9TbS1OlvXwK_3xsQrbvfw1yjpzwlg6aMlasV7ISrI_vo0RLHh3y8Se6s0CShsyQQ1bBsuwA/w351-h468/Sam%20Curtiss%20-%201.jpeg" width="351" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“We want to take hemp products out of the shadows,” said Sam Curtiss. In that, he succeeded at Wheatsville. He told me that while he was there, he restocked his shelves in the cooler twice. Bayou City Hemp is working on becoming totally vertically integrated from growing to canning and from non-alcoholic beverages to tequilas and beers. In their view, you should not be stuck with just one beverage.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqE7_Gn24jb4jsEYkH99ePBNRHHUYY7jesiYq1imPfrf9R0j5OwhVB-Mrfgz9VQnSMjBDq1leHvKjzwQTabXujrxvcBCZRMhfQyNuUqtmxw_0JqxOZCXQ-Rr_V8M66nmgAmo7uYqedxOR9IngTlnijey9OQbFmhLD4wv5PwWZ3MrPBbwRukTTSYpoVQ/s1368/Bayou%20City%20%202023-06-11%20at%205.36.19%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="802" data-original-width="1368" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqE7_Gn24jb4jsEYkH99ePBNRHHUYY7jesiYq1imPfrf9R0j5OwhVB-Mrfgz9VQnSMjBDq1leHvKjzwQTabXujrxvcBCZRMhfQyNuUqtmxw_0JqxOZCXQ-Rr_V8M66nmgAmo7uYqedxOR9IngTlnijey9OQbFmhLD4wv5PwWZ3MrPBbwRukTTSYpoVQ/w479-h282/Bayou%20City%20%202023-06-11%20at%205.36.19%20PM.png" width="479" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i>https://www.bayoucityhemp.com</i></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b style="font-family: helvetica;">PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2015/04/sunday-at-co-op.html" target="_blank">Sunday at the Co-op</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2021/12/funky-mello-feel-good-marshmellows.html" target="_blank">Funky Mellow: Feel Good Marshmellows</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2014/10/hot-dang-vegie-burger-mix.html" target="_blank">Hot Dang Veggie Burger Mix</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2019/01/coffee-at-co-op-tradition-and-novelty.html" target="_blank">Coffee at the Co-op: Tradition and Novelty</a> </b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/06/awesome-austin-foods.html" target="_blank">Awesome Austin Foods</a></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2014/12/awesome-austin-foods-at-wheatsville-co.html" target="_blank">Awesome Austin Foods at the Wheatsville Co-op</a></b></span></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-87908903583323645702023-06-11T06:54:00.004-07:002024-01-13T14:30:14.780-08:00 INVISIBLE CHEATING AND VISIBLE RIGHTS<p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b>How do we decide who is worthy? How do we select for competency? A recent Grammarly advertisement hinged on an application for residency. I took that to mean medical residency. Grammarly is helping him with his personal statement and curriculum vitae. I</b></span><b style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"> found that disturbing.</b></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUQ1HeXIftqHeMdW3U3EqXC2lzAZ2a_oVEIKAquPGhpATHKf49rznV-HLHJ5jlSoa8NXUPYFSjGlbAbOBQ4jEtvZW62UypQ62l7KirKczUzPhtPaid-w__RgoJNTQwFy1P96nndkHPBh1Bc644U4Zu6c2dLbqRwyeqnCHg4lzpp87QE4MU6WApRLV3Q/s1192/Grammarly%20Residency%201.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="1192" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlUQ1HeXIftqHeMdW3U3EqXC2lzAZ2a_oVEIKAquPGhpATHKf49rznV-HLHJ5jlSoa8NXUPYFSjGlbAbOBQ4jEtvZW62UypQ62l7KirKczUzPhtPaid-w__RgoJNTQwFy1P96nndkHPBh1Bc644U4Zu6c2dLbqRwyeqnCHg4lzpp87QE4MU6WApRLV3Q/w400-h265/Grammarly%20Residency%201.png" width="400" /></a></b></span></div><p></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDdHIoRQCr1G5JOU1oDcfEMbnwOaUqw2KS4y5v8RXc2NMcmYs8-kPFNVUME0IPv-6bKmcnCbX1nVhh5N9Vz2mw2vOpD7w4hP0ZGJm7HaSTHtDYCs1S7Gdai_mZe1fREKSsKe_Ew5bLL_KRKersHro5iD3yac8-1-fwbJYkSm03GJKWEaPnRDITVG1Pw/s1192/Grammarly%20Residency%202.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDdHIoRQCr1G5JOU1oDcfEMbnwOaUqw2KS4y5v8RXc2NMcmYs8-kPFNVUME0IPv-6bKmcnCbX1nVhh5N9Vz2mw2vOpD7w4hP0ZGJm7HaSTHtDYCs1S7Gdai_mZe1fREKSsKe_Ew5bLL_KRKersHro5iD3yac8-1-fwbJYkSm03GJKWEaPnRDITVG1Pw/s1192/Grammarly%20Residency%202.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="1192" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDdHIoRQCr1G5JOU1oDcfEMbnwOaUqw2KS4y5v8RXc2NMcmYs8-kPFNVUME0IPv-6bKmcnCbX1nVhh5N9Vz2mw2vOpD7w4hP0ZGJm7HaSTHtDYCs1S7Gdai_mZe1fREKSsKe_Ew5bLL_KRKersHro5iD3yac8-1-fwbJYkSm03GJKWEaPnRDITVG1Pw/w400-h265/Grammarly%20Residency%202.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course, no one test is sufficient. Doctors must be approved by government and professional licensing boards. In the USA, the AMA enjoys quasi-governmental status. So, even if this nice young man is letting Grammarly do his writing, his promotion from hospital intern to hospital resident is not assured. </div></span><p></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Right now, so-called “artificial intelligence” products are bringing into question what it means to be original. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhsUYWoDad8hWf31d8EVTtZH0D6aBwvv2dnvFGkWCls6aQiT5YvnUWV9gqvOncvCU63J8W4pYg0AXifvkwSOLtJnkPY9N58SrRfKmEcKPkdzSZ6RowVHLIPtDHcYYe2ILXB7P0S-hY9e9u1aXD1W1FSoXxyHMjQ-8O-E0hhJy87jeK0AOpbjYPqHo2kg/s1888/Jason%20Allen%20Spatial%20Theater.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="1888" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhsUYWoDad8hWf31d8EVTtZH0D6aBwvv2dnvFGkWCls6aQiT5YvnUWV9gqvOncvCU63J8W4pYg0AXifvkwSOLtJnkPY9N58SrRfKmEcKPkdzSZ6RowVHLIPtDHcYYe2ILXB7P0S-hY9e9u1aXD1W1FSoXxyHMjQ-8O-E0hhJy87jeK0AOpbjYPqHo2kg/w400-h255/Jason%20Allen%20Spatial%20Theater.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/03/tech/ai-art-fair-winner-controversy/index.html</span></i></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">AI won an art contest, and artists are furious</span></b></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">By Rachel Metz, CNN Business</span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Published 10:54 AM EDT, Sat September 3, 2022</span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">CNN Business</span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> — </span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jason M. Allen was almost too nervous to enter his first art competition. Now, his award-winning image is sparking controversy about whether art can be generated by a computer, and what, exactly, it means to be an artist.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">In August, Allen, a game designer who lives in Pueblo West, Colorado, won first place in the emerging artist division’s “digital arts/digitally-manipulated photography” category at the Colorado State Fair Fine Arts Competition. His winning image, titled “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial” (French for “Space Opera Theater”), was made with Midjourney — an artificial intelligence system that can produce detailed images when fed written prompts. A $300 prize accompanied his win.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/03/tech/ai-art-fair-winner-controversy/index.html</span></i></p><div><br /></div><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the Cloudy Nights discussion board, which is mostly dedicated to chat about observational astronomy, in the forum for “Science! Astronomy, Space Exploration, and Others,” a topic title was the question <b>“What can’t artificial intelligence do?”</b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">The introductory post started: <b>“</b></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>We have made machines that can play chess better than we can. We are close to making machines that can write novels better than we can. Threshold question. Is there a limit? I can see no reason that there should be. The interesting question. What happens when we can make machines that can do everything better than we can?”</b> In 100 replies, I was the only person who pointed out that while an AI could write a better novel, the novel itself was an invention.</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> I received just one "like" for the comment. </span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">"(As far as we know) only humans can invent something new. You can say that an AI can write a novel better than a human, but the novel is an invention. As a form of narration and history, the novel is relatively recent. Poetry - epic poetry - was first. And before poems were invented, people made lists of things.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> ... </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Painting as we know it evolved in a series of quantum leaps. By the 4th century BCE graphical realism had achieved what we regard as modern techniques. The "Renaissance Masters" of Holland painted in a hyper-realistic style that violated "natural" vision. See The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan Van Eyck.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">If you were in the room where the painter stood, you would not see the image in the mirror at the back the way it is presented in the painting. It is hyper-real. Impressionism, Expressionism, Abstract, ...</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Performance Art.... Even John Cage, an intellectual fraud*, carried out original ideas not requested of him by someone else.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">That is the essential distinguishing characteristic that explains the difference between human intelligence and machine intelligence."</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The question remains unanswered because it is a slippery slope. Grammarly targets two markets: college students writing homework essays; young professionals writing business memoranda. Is it wrong to have someone (something) else proofread your work before you turn it in? I often get red squiggly underlines warning me that I miskeyed or misspelled a word. Whatever the gradient of that slope, we know the difference between having someone (something) else check your work and taking work that was not yours originally. That is plagiarism, and in business, it is theft and fraud.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Whether the impulse to sue for rights originates spontaneously within the plaintiff or was learned by the plaintiff from observing others is irrelevant. The deeper question is how the laws of various geographies will view the action when a computer program insists that it is alive and has rights.</span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">*Having read from his <i>Silence: Lectures and Writings</i>, I changed my opinion of John Cage. </span></p><p style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS<o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/09/all-volitional-beings-deserve-rights.html" target="_blank">All Volitional Beings Deserve Rights</a></span> </b></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2014/09/not-invented-here.html" target="_blank">Not Invented Here</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2011/05/copy-rights-and-wrongs.html" target="_blank">Copy Rights and Wrongs</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/09/objective-intellectual-property-law.html" target="_blank">Objective Intellectual Property Law</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2014/07/us-patent-law-does-not-add-up.html" target="_blank">U. S. Patent Law Does Not Add Up</a> <o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><b><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2014/07/patent-nonsense-intellectual-property.html" target="_blank">Patent Nonsense</a> </b></span></p><p style="margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #800180; font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520310366597866036.post-7920962586720916682023-06-07T08:25:00.005-07:002023-06-07T14:28:03.432-07:00Globular Clusters<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-size: 12pt;">Despite the shorter nights, summer is great time to pursue globular clusters. Messier objects 4 and 80 are in Scorpius. M22 is in Sagittarius. The Hercules cluster M13 is high in the sky overhead at 11:00 PM about July 15. Under truly dark skies, M13 can be a naked eye object. On the other hand, from the city, even with a moderate telescope, M4 can be hard to obtain as will be the less well known M92 in Hercules. Even so, with the milder nights, if you want to stay up or go out early, you can catch M15 in Pegasus on the meridian about 4:00 AM on July 15. Whether easy or challenging to enter in your observation logs, better appreciation for the success of finding them comes from understanding what you are looking at. (This entry is from my notes collected for an article to appear in the June 9 issue of <i>Sidereal Times </i>of the Austin Astronomical Society.)</span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">“Though the clusters show in their arrangement, a definite relation to the galactic plane, they are not concentrated close to it; indeed, there is a conspicuous absence of globular clusters near the central line of the Milky Way in the sky, and within about 2000 parsecs from the galactic plane in space. There is no known reason why globular clusters should not exist near this plane, and it is probable that those which are there are hidden from us.” [6]</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“The globular clusters in the Milky Way are all estimated to be at least 10 billion years old and therefore contain some of the oldest stars in the galaxy. They contain an abundance of low-mass red stars and intermediate-mass yellow stars, but none greater than 0.8 solar masses. There are about 150 known globular clusters in the Milky Way. It is thought that globular clusters formed very early in the vast halo surrounding the nascent galaxy before it flattened to form the spiral disc. Star formation would have stopped in these clusters maybe 13 billion years ago, so only old stars are expected to be found there.” </span><i style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Astro/globular.html)</span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Excellent introductions to the hobby of observational astronomy such as </span><i style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">NightWatch</i><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> by Terence Dickinson all tend to give the same easy explanations. Of 150 or so globular clusters orbiting the Milky Way, about 30 are readily found by dedicated observers with telescopes of larger aperture under darker skies. When it was accepted that the Milky Way is just another galaxy the examination of other galaxies led to new understanding of the nature of globular clusters and to new questions about them. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Globular clusters are far more prevalent in elliptical galaxies than in spirals and it is accepted as likely that many are in fact the cores of elliptical galaxies. [3.b] Elliptical galaxy M87 (Virgo A) is often available to 60-mm refractors, given dark skies suited to its 8.6 magnitude, second brightest in the Virgo Cluster. It has thousands of globular clusters.[3.b] [3.c] perhaps 15,000 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_87]. Close studies of the motions of globular clusters have revealed tidal trails of stars being left behind. [3.b] Globular clusters are also known “in the field,” meaning in the otherwise unorganized free space between galaxies where they are detected by instruments seeking the farthest (oldest) galaxies. [3.c]</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Blue Stragglers</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">In the dense cores of globular clusters, a typical star has a significant chance to undergo a collision. The velocity gradient within a globular cluster is one to two orders of magnitude less than escape velocity. Therefore, almost all of the mass in a collision is retained. Moreover, the velocities of the materials are less than the escape velocities from stellar bodies of the original masses. Therefore, the mass is retained to form the merged product. If the sum of the products is significantly large (more than 1 solar mass), the merged product will remain on the H-R main sequence but will be positioned bluewards on the turnoff from the Main Sequence. These have been labeled “blue stragglers.”[5] </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Blue Stragglers were first identified in 1953 by Alan R. Sandage. His data came from examination of Messier 3 and Messier 95, which are often available to small telescopes and M71 which usually is not. So far, over 400 Blue Stragglers have been identified in 20 globular clusters. They still do have a completely integrated theoretical explanation. Available data strongly suggests a causal link between the unperturbed evolution of binary stars and the existence of Blue Stragglers. [3] </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">REFERENCES</span></span></b></p><div>1. <i>The Complex Lives of Star Clusters</i>. David Stevenson. Springer. 2015.</div><div>2. <i>The Ecology of Blue Stragglers</i>. Henry M. J. Boffin, Giovanni Carraro, Giacomo Beccari, editors. Springer. 2015.</div><div>3. <i>Extra-Galactic Globular Cluster Systems</i>. M. Kissler-Patig, editor. Springer.. 2003. </div><div>3.a “Globular Cluster Systems of Spirals” by Pauline Barmby</div><div>3.b. “Globular Cluster Systems of Spiral Galaxies Beyond the Local Group” by Katherine L. Rhode</div><div>3.c. “The Morphology of the Radial Velocity Distribution of Globular Clusters in NGC 1399” by Tom Richtler, Boris Dirsch, and D. Geisler.</div><div>4. <i>The Gravitational Million-Body Problem: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Star Cluster Dynamics</i>. Douglas Heggie, Piet Hut. Cambridge University Press. 2003.</div><div>5. S<i>tellar Evolution at Low Metallicity: Mass Loss, Explosions, Cosmology</i>. Henry J. G. L. M. Lamers, Norbert Langer, Tilt Nugis, Kaljiu Annuk, editors. Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series volume 353. 2005.</div><div>6. <i>Astronomy: A Revision of Young’s Manual of Astronomy; volume II Astrophysics and Stellar Astronomy</i>. Henry Norris Russell, Raymond Smith Duncan, John Quincy Stewart. Ginn and Company. 1927, 1938.</div><div>7. <i>Discovery and Classification in Astronomy.</i> Steven J. Dick. Cambridge University Press. 2013.</div><div style="font-family: helvetica; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">FROM MY LOG BOOKS</span></div><div><div>Messier 4 - 14 July 2015, 11 and 13 June 2020, and 31 July 2021. 15 March 2022, 26 March 2022.</div><div>Messier 13 - 12 July 2015, 11 September 2021, 3 December 2021, </div><div>Messier 22 - 14 July 2015, 15 March 2022, 26 March 2022</div><div>Messier 31 - 1 December 2018, 5 November 2020,</div><div>Messier 80 - 14 July 2015, 11 July 2020, March and 26 March 2022</div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">See also <a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2021/10/celestron-avx-mount-twelve-nights-of.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #800180;">Celestron AVX Mount: Twelve Nights of Viewing and Learning</span></a></span></div><div><br /></div></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>PREVIOUSLY ON NECESSARY FACTS</b></span><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2013/03/seeing-in-dark-your-front-row-seat-to.html" target="_blank">Book Review - Seeing in the Dark: Your Front Row Seat to the Universe</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2020/08/measuring-your-universe-alan-hirshfelds.html" target="_blank">Measuring Your Universe: Alan Hirschfeld’s Astronomy Activity Manual</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2020/11/viewing-mars.html" target="_blank">Viewing Mars</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #800180;"><a href="https://necessaryfacts.blogspot.com/2015/04/hypatia-of-alexandria.html" target="_blank">Hypatia of Alexandria</a> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Michael E. Marottahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14402515044482988601noreply@blogger.com0