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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Adler After Dark

17 August 2011

For an August evening, this was nice.

Donning on my Adler I.D, I was ready for this month's edition of ADD.

It was not overly humid and hot, but rather pleasant and mostly clear skies.

We set up scopes off the South Entrance of the Adler, away from the noise of the DJ and booze. I used the Adler's 10" LX-200 and went all manual - (real astronomers don't need no go-to... ). Saturn was the highlight of the evening,using a 18mm wide field and pretty good image. And there were also two ISS passes to enjoy...

And I later focused on the E.T. Star Cluster and then the raising Moon - and all were very appreciated by the Adler visitors. Other scopes were focused on Alberio, as well as the Moon and Saturn. The big 20" Scope in the Doane observatory could not slew to Saturn, as it was much too low for the scope to target, so it was M13 and alberio as well for it....and Saturn was all ours.

A big treat for me was seeing Chicago Astronomer Robb and his wife Amy...

They stopped by for the AAD activities and shows.

People recognized the Chicago Astronomer and we took pics. Here is Angela from Dallas who is aware of me.

Sweet!

We operated the scopes, discussed astronomy with visitors and had fun till 10:30 pm - and we broke down the site...concluding the August edition of AAD.

The crew for the night:

Adler Telescope Facilitators: Myself, Carmen, Arnvid, Linda, Steve, Steve again, Jude, and Fred.

[Paulie pchris00]

All those girls in the very first pic are over 21?!?

Man, I need to get on the Adler crew...

[atomant]

Wow, good to see the ole volunteer gang!

Holy Cow, Arvind?!?

[RobbW]

Aug 19, 2011 5:42:41 GMT -6 Paulie pchris00 said:

All those girls in the very first pic are over 21?!?

Makes you feel kinda old, doesn't it, Paulie?!?!

Aug 19, 2011 0:13:55 GMT -6 Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe said:

A big treat for me was seeing Chicago Astronomer Robb and his wife Amy...

Aww... how sweet, Joe! It was great seeing you, too. Now, I just need to get down there again for an actual CA event.

***P.S. I really hope that was my wife grabbing me inappropriately in that photo, otherwise...

Aug 19, 2011 0:13:55 GMT -6 Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe said:

People recognized the Chicago Astronomer and we took pics.

I think those may be the two girls Amy and I met while waiting in line to get into the Adler. I overheard them talking about this group that sometimes sets up their telescopes on the sidewalks outside the Adler. I told them all about CA and their fearless leader Joe.

Overall, Amy and I had a great time at AAD! I have been wanting to go for quite some time. It was awesome to see Joe actually working. I loved the 20" scope in the Doane, even though tickets were sold out to look through it during the dark hours. We made it in to have a peek at Alberio during the "walk-in" hours before sunset. That is one mother of a scope!!! All the exhibits and interactive activities were pretty cool. I was really impressed with the "Hidden Secrets: Preserving the Night Sky" exhibit.

I had mostly been looking forward to seeing the new show at the multi-million dollar renovated Grainger Sky Theater. My impressions? It was... okay, which is a little better than "meh"! The UltraHD graphics, detail, and audio were out of this world!!! However, the content of the show was truly lacking, which is very sad for something that cost so much money. Speaking for myself (well, my wife agrees with me), I was really hoping for an awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping view of our cosmos as I have never seen before. I was hoping it would reveal all the hidden wonders and gemstones of our night sky and display them in eye-popping detail. I was expecting to have my mind blown! Instead, we were treated to a cartoon about a long-lost space traveler whose home planet was destroyed by a supernova and is on a never-ending hunt for his relocated civilization. The stupid animation whizzes past all the actual cool stuff out in the universe at light speed in order to focus on the close-up artists' renderings of foreign planets. How lame is this?!?!!!!!! Unfortunately, even with as grand and detailed as this new sky theater is, I will not waste another penny to see it again until they completely change the show.

Other than that, last night's visit to the Adler was a wonderful birthday treat from my wife!!!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

That LX-200 is pretty decent.

One of the Adler staff long time astronomers said, "I see you brought out the beast." I responded that it was the beast jr.

Perplexed for a moment, he finally realized my point and acknowledged that it is Jr. And that I indeed had the C11 Beast...and couldn't be in better hands....

I like to set the scopes high, tripod legs fully extended and something to reach up to. I have been advised over the years as to why don't I bring the scope down to make it easier.

I disagree.

You want ease, go to the dobs and refractors we have set up, (and I send the little kids to those). But with me, I like for the visitors to experience a big, tall substantial astronomical instrument, something you reach up to, ( and besides me of course), imposing & impressive....a little more effort, but the prize is well worth it.

I also place the red blinking lights on the scope and myself to create awareness and top keep people from bumping into the legs. I get asked quite often why the red lights.

It's all about the show babe.

I can't take many pics at AADs, as there are many visitors to attend to, and I ain't got no C.A.S.C Barbara to help. But while the shows are running and the crowd dies down a bit, I grab what I can....including that pic with C.A. Robb.

I'll never tell...

[patrickm]

Joe wrote:

Aug 19, 2011 13:54:24 GMT -6 Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe said:

I like to set the scopes high, tripod legs fully extended and something to reach up to. I have been advised over the years as to why don't I bring the scope down to make it easier.

I disagree.

You want ease, go to the dobs and refractors we have set up, (and I send the little kids to those). But with me, I like for the visitors to experience a big, tall substantial astronomical instrument, something you reach up to, ( and besides me of course), imposing & impressive....a little more effort, but the prize is well worth it.

You are a trip, D00D.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

You are a trip, D00D

And don't you forget it.

In your face astronomy - on tap and unfiltered.

[-=CROMAN=-]

Aug 19, 2011 13:54:24 GMT -6 Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe said:

You want ease, go to the dobs and refractors we have set up, (and I send the little kids to those).

That explains my greasy eyepieces and empty Doritos bag in my OTA! Thanks Joe.....

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Sorry man.

I told the little buggers only recyclable packaging!!!