To Planisphere or not to Planisphere...

   So like so many amateur astronomers out there I watched Stargazing Live presented by Professor Brian Cox and Dara O Briain.  It was actually a really good show if you ignore Jonathan Ross being a little silly to say the least.  Anyhow, our good old Mr. Ross had a stargazing lesson from Mark Thompson, and he was tought about a Planisphere and how to use one.

   That there be a Planisphere, incase the big white writing along the front of it couldn't be a big enough give away.  So I saw how this thing worked and thought, "Well I really only know Orion and the Plough, so why not get one to help me with the telescope?" good idea in practise, in theory it blew chunks.  Either there wasn't that many to start with, or the show has generated a huge interest in the things.  Could I find one online?  Could I bullocks, I found one on Ebay for £55 that was for an RAF bomber crew in 1942, so that didn't really help me too much.  I thought I would try a book store, a proper one that you can walk into... who would be geeky enough to actually ask another human for one?  So I walked into Waterstones, asked the lady where it would be, all I got was an "huh?!" So I said "starcharts, basically", I got showed to the science bit, which was a whole 4 foot shelf!  JESUS FUCKING CHRIST! Even Manga has more room than science, how the fuck does that one work out?!  Anyhow, as a long shot I tried The Works, total failure there, found a DVD for Meerkat Manor, but couldn't be bothered to queue up for it.  Now everytime Nat and I go to Lakeside we always pop into W H Smith because of the magazines and the drinks we can get.  I thought I would have a quick look in there, they sell books right? THEY HAD IT!  WOOHOO!  Altho where Amazon.co.uk was £5 Smithy's was the full RRP of £8.99... well you have to pay for postage with Amazon so Nat convinced me, so I just got the book with Philips Stargazing 2011 which I thought was helpful at the least.  So out of all the places I could think of, W H Smith had it, I love that shop.  

  One last thought, Professor Brian Cox was asked what a piece of music was, he said it was the Star Trek theme song (did actually sound like it), he was told it was music made from the noise that stars make, he actually said "that wrong!" but you could so see he was going to "that is complete bullocks!"  I wasn't the only one who noticed it.  Made me laugh a lot.  If you ever get the chance, try and see any shows that he is in, I just love the way he talks and describes things.  I would of loved to have him as an teacher when I was a wee nipper.

  Anyhow, peace out!

  Dazz 

The Man in the Moon

  Well who can guess what this one is about?!  For Christmas, Nat bought me an Newtonian Telescope, I love the thing I really do!  It's something that I have always wanted but never had the spare cash to buy.  Now the weather has been very shit around here since I got it on Christmas day, but on the 18th Jan, Nat and I managed to get outside and see the moon in all her glory!  We even managed to take pictures of it also!  :)

  Here is one of the pictures that Nat managed to take using just the H2O (x32) eyepiece and a mobile phone, pretty cool eh?

  Here is my attempt in all of it's glory, the moon was bloody bright tho!  I think I will need to get an moon filter for this kinda thing.  There is an lovely set I have got my eyes on, shame it's £130 :(  Maybe for my birthday? :D

  They where really good for my second attempt eh?  I just need to learn how to use the Philips SPC900NC now.  I had that camera ordered by Nat on her ebay account (I've never had an ebay account!) and the proper eyepiece to go with it.  I actually ordered an alloy one, but got sent a plastic one.  Not a major issue really, if it works and stands the test of time then it could be made out of macaroni cheese for all I care! After all, we are only human and we all make mistakes, I didn't want to send it back as I had finally got my new toy and I was very impatient to use it. Got it from BilletParts.co.uk good quality eyepiece it was too, fitted the 900NC like a glove!  They have given me a £4 refund on the plastic one compared to the alloy one.  Thats the kind of service I like, I will be using them again, maybe for the alloy eyepiece this time?  :P

  Keep on Geeking! ;)

Enter the Geek

  Hello one and all, 

  My name is Dazzio (Dazz for short), I am a geeky kinda person who likes lots of geek things, e.g. planes, cars, tanks, animé, manga, astronomy, model making, playing with computers, computer games and stuff like that.  This blog has been set up to catalogue all of the geeky stuff I do.  My girlfriend, Natti, thought it was a good idea plus I think it means more exposure for her blog too ;)

  Enjoy reading about the geeky stuff I think and get upto!

  ZIEG ZEON!

  Dazzio