Mike Clements a man from Utah built his own reflection telescope that is the largest ever made by a non-chartered scientific group. Built out of metal framing, with a 70 inch mirror, the structure stands 35 feet tall and the mirror weighs 900 pounds on its own. He bought the mirror that had originally been designed to be used on a spy satellite, but as a result of an accidental chip on the edge, allowed him to purchase it. He has always been fascinated with telescopes and Clements says "I've always had bad vision, and telescopes have been like a prosthesis for me." Many find it hard to believe that Clements spends 8 to 9 hours a day in a truck driving for Central Refrigerated Services, but Clements says that the time alone allows him to think in quiet and formulate ideas for telescope designs. Such a feat was attempted in the 1990s by a group of amateur astronomers but they failed due to lack of funding, but Clements has invested heavily in the project for the past 18 months, which he has dreamed of for 15 years. Such a leap in availability of materials that would allow for an amateur to build the telescope show immense developments in scientific availability.

Link to original article:
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/UT-man-builds-largest-amateur-telescope-on-record-4944350.php#photo-5397399

Harvest Moon: EDIT

The importance of the harvest moon to our modern society isn't far removed. The harvest moon, not only indicates the beginning of the harvest but also helps stimulate growth, increase moisture, and also help heal cuts on plants. This is characteristic of full moons in general but the Harvest moon is different because it leaves almost no break in light from sundown to moonrise. This constant light also helps the life and growth of plants.

Fall Equinox

The Harvest moon comes before the fall equinox. But that is...? The Autumnal Equinox is the point in the second part of the year where the center of the sun's rays are at the equator. At this time of year the day and night are roughly equal in length which is the meaning of Equinox, equal night, in Latin. However, only people in the northern hemisphere call this time of year the fall equinox, in the southern hemisphere it is called the vernal, spring, equinox because the seasons are reversed opposite of the equator.

Source: http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/september-equinox.html

Harvest Moon

Today the harvest moon also starts. Historically it signified the leading up to autumn and the extra bright, and twenty minutes less late, rising of the moon helped illuminate the fields making it easier for farmers to bring in their crops. It is also the full moon closest to the fall equinox. Here is a picture of  a harvest moon in the backdrop of some farmland.

September 18 skyview

Tonight I will be using my recently constructed Planisphere (supplied by Uncle Al's Hands-On Universe Sky Wheel) to view tonight's sky. Also, I will be using the SkyChart app downloaded from the Google Play Store. This post will be updated later today. For the interim though, I will supply this to occupy your time:

Introduction

This blog has the purpose of fulfilling required assignments in Astronomy class, but has most important role of spreading photographic evidence that puppies and kittens make people smile. For example: