hale pupule

Okay, so outwardly, I'm cool. Inwardly, I can't think about anything else:

THERE'S A TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE COMING TO THE U.S., YOU GUYS!!!

The path of totality will go from the Pacific Ocean off northern Oregon and travel east from Portland through southern Idaho, central Wyoming, southern Illinois, Nashville (Tennessee), and North Carolina before heading into the Atlantic Ocean.

When is it, you ask? 21 August 2017. And I'm already making plans. I've told my parents, Jimbo, and Chris that they're welcome to come with me and any niece beasts who want to come with me. It'll probably be just Squirt, who will be 13 that summer. The Wee Beastie, who shall hereafter be known as Mimi, will only be six and probably too young to spend so much time away from her parents. Boo-Girl will be twenty, and as the eclipse is on a Monday, it's likely she'll be a week or two into the fall term at college or university and unable to come.

The path of totality will run very close to Mount Rushmore, so I'm figuring I could take anyone who comes with me to Denver to visit friends the week before, see monuments and state/national parks and stuff over the weekend, view the eclipse Monday, and then head home in time to be back at work Wednesday. Unless I drive, in which case it'll take at least two days to get home.

*headdesk* It's six years away, and I'm already making plans. At least I have loads of time to save money.

I'm a total dweeb. I can't get over this: Bad astronomy in fanfiction --> me hitting the back button.

It could be an incorrect term or impossible geometry or illogical timing. Stuff that Professor Cutie-Pie drilled into our heads a hundred times over the year I spent in his classroom.

I have no doubt that people have hit the back button on my fics for bad English or bad magic or bad instrument playing because I didn't realize that I should have done research. I know people have caught my bad writing because they've sent concrit, and I'm grateful for it (though I don't always go back and change what's wrong). It's those readers' specialties -- what they're passionate about -- just like astronomy is one of mine.

Mom came by for lunch and shopping today. We went to Scope City first. She was so cute; I opened the door for her so we could go in. She caught sight of all the telescopes in that little place and let out a moan that was positively indecent. Both the boys who worked there (who have helped me both times I went there on research trips) and I let out big laughs at her, especially when she said, "Oh, I'm going to get impulsive!" When she saw the twelve-inch (wide) floor model of the telescope I told her about, she almost shat herself. But I coaxed her down to a ten-inch model, which is expensive enough, and that's what we ended up buying. That's plenty big for a first scope. We also picked up an adjustable moon filter, which gets threaded into the eyepiece. We'll pick up other add-ons as we need them. (Now this is a kind of accessorizing that I can appreciate!)

So. It's a ten-inch Meade Lightbridge Dobsonian, and it's Teh Shiny. After I get home (which will be late, because I was gone for almost two hours) and lug the beast (still in boxes, needs to be assembled) into my apartment, I shall write a drabble tonight and post it to GS100, in honor of the new toy.

Edit: So much for waiting until the end of the day: http://community.livejournal.com/grangersnape100/971376.html

( HP Personality Meme ... my results keep changing. First I was Hermione, then Severus, and now I'm )

Go outside and look into the sky after sunset. It's better if you aren't standing in an area where there's a lot of street lights ... if you can get away from light pollution, do so. There's a very strange comet in the night sky. It doesn't seem to have a tail; it's erupted and has a huge, dim, fuzzy aura around its core. It's in the constellation of Perseus, so look towards the northeast, once the sun is down: click here for a sky map. It's as big as the Sea of Tranquility and bigger than Jupiter, though not as bright as either. But you should be able to see it!

Here's the front page of that website -- http://spaceweather.com/ -- this comet is the biggest news from outside the atmosphere in a long time!

The sky hasn't been clear for over a week here -- smoke from fires last week, and now a dense marine layer this week -- so I can't see squat. If you do see it, please let me know!

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070118.html

Snark and Sbrande and Somigliana and all you who live south of the Equator, you'd better be going outside every night, and taking everyone you know with you, so you can see this comet! It's lucky you are, that this comet is at its brightest when it's in high in the Southern skies.

*grumbling* (Though since the man who discovered it is Australian, I suppose it's fair. Damn it.)

They are all smart smart-arses. What's not to love?

http://dingo.care-mail.com/cards/flash/5409/galaxy.swf

Be sure to have your sound up. And take notes. *wink*