I could say the same when I visit the Tarantulas thread........

Almost all the things we chat about in this thread are explained somewhere on the internet and only needs a simple google for clarification.

Highlight for this weekend is the Perseids mentioned by Mr.LKM. I hope I can catch a few falling stars......

lol, I meant I was working on the writing of it.

Don't worry. There are a lot of stuffs to know when you get into astrophotography. I just know 1% of the total.

By the way, I don't have the luck again to observe Perseid meteor shower... it's so cloudy now.

This post has been edited by Mr.LKM: Aug 11 2006, 09:06 PM

Cloudy and cool. Maybe a bit windy...but its a good night to go out a chill.... Thank god for the rain this afternoon.....

Managed to see any thing?

Tonight's the peak for us. My eyes will be glued upwards after dinner........

I thought the peak has just past? If yes, I wish the clouds clear now...

The peak for this year's Perseids is @ 8.00 am tomorrow (August 13) morning. Last year it peaked @ 4.00am for us.

Ref: http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/august_radiants.html

I hope these guys know what they are talking about.

Anyway, tonight is more convenient for watching, can stay up all night. Do some Moon watch as well.

The Moon here is currently at an orange tone. The sky is still as cloudy as this morning.

Oh. orange tone like a few days back. In KL now so I guess I will be missing it.....

The moon was bright and shiny with a huge moon dog at 6.00 am. Too hazy for successful meteor gazing, though. Could see Aldebaran, Rigel and Capella distinctly but nothing much else.

Tried to see Venus and Mercury 45 mins later, the sky over Kuala Lumpur (to my North East) was full of orange dust as usual.

The sky is so suck! The brightest star Vega is only very very poor visible and I can't even see it if the cloud just move a little bit. It supposes to be the haze I think. Thanks to the idiot farmers in Indonesia.

And to think some of them may be our own countrymen.

And on another front, it looks like our Solar System is gaining another 3 planets! Now there's going to be one between Mars and Jupiter, and we also have a unique double planet (with Pluto and Charon to be reclassified from planet & moon -> planet and planet).

And with some more bodies waiting in line to be recognised.......time to start saving up for a 12 inch telescope or larger.

But poor Ganymede, even though it is bigger and rounder than many `planets', will remain as a moon.

Hi. How are you (guys)?

Any mod done on the PCVC840K?

I haven't modded it. I still have time to do so.

March05, although Ganymede is much more larger than Charon, it doesn't orbit the Sun but Jupiter. I think that's the defination suggested that Ganymede is not a planet. Ceres is an asteroid which is now defined as a planet between Mars and Jupiter.

These days are so cloudy. Do you still read my blog?

Hi, long time no see u. Last time was at SS2 McD's right? About a century ago.

My ToUcam's still working with my old adaptor. Haven't done adaptor version 2 yet since it works fine. Nothing much to shoot though. The skies have been misbehaving again.

What are the chances of having another ToUcam bulk?

But Ganymede is larger than even Mercury & some say it may be a `captured' planet, not a true Galilean satellite.

There're also rumours that under the new definition, our own moon may qualify as a planet - which means that we (Earth & Moon) will be a double planet system too. If you trace out the Moon's path, it does orbit the Sun in a wobbly way, just like the Earth also wobbles around the Sun due to the Moon's proximity. So who's orbiting who?

But I like the idea of Xena being made one of the planets........... She can fight with Mars everyday like in the TV series!

BTW I just got a 404 at your blog. Are you updating it?

I see. I think the chances are Moon will most likely be another planet according to their defination. (Please let me know if there is grammar mistake.)

Personally, I think if they keep messing around with the definitions, we could end up with hundreds of objects suddenly becoming planets.

My favourite position is that we have Eight planets, and Pluto is just another KBO (Kuiper Belt Object) like Xena. That way, the planets are an exclusive club of eight and should remain so for quite some time. But obviously this will not please some of our religious* brothers........there are a lot of social implications in the definitions that many people are not aware of.

*edited due to sensitive matters lah.

This post has been edited by March05: Aug 20 2006, 08:53 PM

Ya, this is not just science but also religious. They have to figure a defination as if they don't, there will be a lot of mess.

Imagine all the alterations to the calendars they follow. A lot of religions are gonna go crazy......

Our Physics books will have to be revised and reprinted (I can imagine the printers rubbing their hands in glee at the new business!)

And the astrologers now will have to take the new planets into account with their predictions.........but how come they couldn't predict this?

As astrology isn't science related at all.