|
|
|
|
|
 |
Friday, November 08, 2002 |
|
News - article in New York Times talks about amateur astronomers and computerized telescopes: http://makeashorterlink.com/?Z64421362 Comment - The article highlights how computerized telescopes, CCD imaging and star chart software have changed amateur astronomy. I know I've enjoyed my computerized scope much, much more than I thought I would. Along those same lines, Bob Miller told our astronomy club meeting Wednesday night that computerized, Internet-connected large telescopes are going to further revolutionize amateur astronomy. He said there are going to be more and more opportunities for amateurs to reserve remote observing time on big (20-inch and bigger) telescopes. The observations we request will be made with a CCD camera, then the images will be e-mailed to us. There are many amateurs who do serious, scientifically valuable astronomy (like hunts for exploding stars in distant galaxies.) But to me, there is something about enjoying the whole package of being out under the peaceful nighttime skies...and seeing objects with my own eyes. So, downloading pictures of objects taken by someone else's scope doesn't sound all that exciting. But on the other hand, it took me a while to warm up to the idea of a computerized, self-pointing telescope. Maybe I'll change my mind on remote observing, as well. There are some parallels to bird watching. Is there much appeal to ordering up a CCD image of a bird off a Website? Not likely. People like to spot birds with their own eyes out in the wild. News - Finally, you can buy a scooter that your Aibo robot dog can drive around: http://makeashorterlink.com/?V62524552 Aibo is the robot dog made by Sony. You clamp it on this scooter and it drives around and does little dances and routines. You can even program your own moves and have it play them back. Click here to see current comments and add your own. 11:14:41 AM 
|
 |
 |
|
 |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||