"Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools."
--1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work.

"Correction: It is now definitely established that a rocket can function in a vacuum. The 'Times' regrets the error."
NY Times, July 1969.

— New York Times

Spiral Galaxy M81

By ebfaulkner6a at Thu, 02/24/2011 - 8:51pm
Spiral Galaxy M81

It's been a very long winter (too many cold nights for this old man) and finally able to get out last night.  After setting up at 6:00 pm I went in to have a piece of Brown Derby and let the scope "cool down".  Then I went out and started taking 2 min unguided images of M81 in Ursa Major for 2 hours, followed by an unsuccessful try to use my guider.  Some images were damaged by flying objects in space, one in particular was the Space Station which flew by just prior to 8 pm (I believe that it was the SS as the STRIPE thru the image was wide and bright).  This image is a combination of 96 min.s processed in MaxIm DL/CCD and Photoshop CS4.  2-23-10