Author: Jon Moss

Adventures on My First Science Convention: Day One

Gottlieb Planetarium at Union Station
Gottlieb Planetarium at Union Station

Since the late 80s, I have attended many conventions, all across the country.  All of those conventions had one thing in common with the convention I’m attending this weekend in Kansas City:  Science.  Well, that’s not entirely true, those other conventions also included stars, but I’ll let that rest for a moment and wait for the shoe to drop.

Yep.  I frequently attended science fiction conventions, mostly of the Star Trek flavor, but more recently of a more eclectic variety, culminating in a trip to Atlanta last fall to attend one of the largest in the country called Dragon*Con.  I won’t be repeating the experience this fall.  In fact, I could have attended the local science fiction convention, ConQuest, hosted annually over Memorial Day Weekend by the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society.  But none of the guests of honor intrigued me, so I decided to embark on a harder challenge.

I registered early to attend the Mid-States Region of the Astronomical Leage (MSRAL) Convention and get a fix of hard science.  I am a member of the Astronomical Society of Kansas City (ASKC), which in turn is a member of the Astronomical League.

The convention started Friday evening at six o’clock with the Star-B-Que, catered by Jack Stack, at Union Station, followed by a program at the Gottlieb Planetarium.

Friday, of course, was a work day for me.  Normally, I can make it home to Lansing by 5:25 p.m., after dropping off all my vanpool riders.  Fortunately, one of my riders left early for a weekend trip, and it just happened to be the person whose home is fifteen minutes off my direct route home.  So, I managed to make it back to Lansing by 5:10, giving me enough time to change clothes, put some gas in the car, and fly back to midtown Kansas City.  I made it to I-670 and within sight of my goal by five ’til six.  Then all traffic became a parking lot and I began to panic.  I exited I-670 midway across the bottoms and took a slight detour around Kemper Arena, approaching Union Station from the west-southwest.  I could not believe the amount of traffic!  Something was going on, because streets were barricaded and people were flocking to the midtown and/or Crown Center area in droves.  I wanted to scream!   I finally wound myself through the mess, using an old shortcut I knew from my days of working next to Union Station (in the Two Pershing Square building) and arrived only ten minutes late.

I picked up my registration packet and got in line for the barbecue.  I sat at a table and met some new astronomers and reacquainted myself with some ASKC club members.  Seven o’clock arrived quicker than I thought it would, and we all migrated to the planetarium for several very interesting programs presented by Jack Dunn of the Mueller Planetarium in Lincoln, Nebraska.  He awed us with parts of several shows, including a moon tour via the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Jupiter via Science on a Sphere projection and a beautiful one created by Kagaya (a Japanese artist) called A Starry Tale.  He closed the evening with a teaser trailer on the seventh planet, by popular request.

Cloudy Sunset from Union Station
Cloudy Sunset from Union Station

Announcements and updates followed and the disappointing news that neither Powell nor the Warko observatories would be opened up this evening, thanks to the clouds (see photo of sunset from Union Station at the left).  So, I found myself heading west towards the sunset and home much earlier than I anticipated.

Today will be full of sessions and workshops.  I can’t decide whether to take my laptop with me or not, as suggested during the announcements last night.  It’s heavy and bulky and I’d have to worry about it and lug it around with me all day.  I think I’ll forgo the hassle and rely on pen and paper and my Nook Color tablet for notes and research.

My only disappointment today will be not entering in the astrophotagraphy contest.  I did not review the MSRAL Convention website well enough in advance to obtain quality prints of a few of my best photos from the last few months.  The photos I would have entered are shown below (click images for larger versions).

Three Planets and a Baby MoonFrom my Mercury hunt in February 2012

EarthglowNewMoonVenusAndWesternHorizon01Earthglow Moon and Venus in May 2012

Partial Solar EclipseSolar Eclipse in May 2012

IMGP2052Lunar Eclipse in December 2011

Remembering Roxy: Who Hated Water, But Loved Showers?

Roxy Playing in the Snow (Dec 2005)
Roxy Playing in the Snow (Dec 2005)

On this first day of June, an unofficial summer Friday start to a fantastic weekend, I went looking for an appropriate photo of Roxy to share with you.  This one jumped out at me as a reminder of much colder days and Roxy’s resistance to all things watery.  Although she did like to chomp snow, as you can see clearly above.  But enough of that white cold soft solid stuff and on to more liquid indulgences.

For this week’s installment of my “Remembering Roxy” blog series, I wanted to expound upon Roxy’s love-hate relationship with water.   Last week I mentioned her ability to out drink a camel, and prior to that I related her first trip to a dog park and her unintentional dunking in a lake.   Roxy also had an aversion to baths, but she stood resolutely still in the tub while I quickly cleaned her.

But the weirdest thing Roxy insisted upon doing was interrupting family members while showering.  It happened to Terry, as well as Rachelle.  Terry remembers Roxy whining outside the shower door, until he opened the door and let her in.  It took her a minute to realize the shower wasn’t exactly the experience she had thought it was, probably because she immediately got soaked.  However, that didn’t deter her from interrupting someone else’s shower on a different day in the future.

I guess being a ditzy Rottweiler had its drawbacks, especially if your goal was staying dry.

Movie Review: Battleship (2012)

Battleship (2012)

3.5 out of 4 stars

Terry and I caught this movie at the theater over Memorial Day weekend.  Fitting, since it resurrected the USS Missouri from a mothballed battleship museum to our last stand against an imminent alien invasion.  You’ve got to see it to believe it, and hang on for the ride.

The tie-in to the classic Hasbro board game came late in the movie, and was refreshingly subtle and well thought out.

Great early summer fun on a Sunday afternoon.  Next week, Prometheus (and I saw an even more enticing trailer for that Ridley Scot film yesterday as well).

Book Review: Throne of the Crescent Moon by Ahmed (4 Stars)

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed

4 out of 5 stars

Read in May 2012

I liked Throne of the Crescent Moon a lot. I loved the characters. I liked the setting, although the world building relied on references to Earth-like locations in our own Middle East, including the cultures and legends that thrive therein.

The magic found in this world contained some supernatural elements: an Angel-touched shapechanger; something similar to a demon helping an undead (or reanimated) man create ghuls (vaguely like zombies but different) using pain, torture, etc. (blood magic or necromancy); some alchemy; some aura-like internal magic; and, an invocation style magic wielded by the main character.

A murder mystery with apocalyptic consequences. Lots of action sequences kept me turning the pages. And as much as our young dervish might strive mightily for stark black and white choices, all of the characters find themselves compromising their principles and morals for the greater good and survival.

I can’t wait for the next installment in the Crescent Moon Kingdoms series.

Book Review: Insurgent by Roth

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I eagerly awaited the arrival of Insurgent. I devoured Divergent last fall in hours, unusual in that I normally read two to three books simultaneously over the course of a week or so. I put all my other reads on hold when I picked up Divergent. I almost repeated the process with Insurgent, reading half of the book one weekend and finishing it the next. Quick and easy reading, but a bit disappointing turn in the plot at the end left me with an aftertaste I still can’t rinse out of my mind.

I gave Insurgent four stars here at GoodReads, but I will most likely settle on a 3.5 star rating on my personal objective scale. Parts of the book brought tears to my eyes, but they did not outweigh the moments of frustration I felt with Tris. She personifies recklessness in the extreme.

I’m trying to avoid spoilers, so I won’t express the specific reasons for my distaste or displeasure with the final revelation in the last few paragraphs of the book. I may have to go back and re-categorize this novel, and place Insurgent on completely different shelves.

If there is a sequel, and I haven’t gone looking to determine if there will be one, I hope more background is provided to justify the premise revealed at the end. Too many questions, and not the ones I expected to be answered; just a whole barrel of new ones on top of the old ones.

View all my reviews

Transist of Venus FAQ

One week from this Tuesday, at exactly 5:09 p.m. Central, Venus will begin it’s transit across the sun.  This is a once-in-a-lifetime observation opportunity and it is visible to nearly the entire world, so there really isn’t any excuse to miss it.  I checked the ten day weather forecast and as of Sunday, May 27th, the predicted whether looks favorable for the Kansas City area.

I will have my telescope (with appropriate eye-saving solar filters applied) setup in Lansing, Kansas, probably by 4:00 pm on Tuesday, June 5th.  Post a comment if you would like to join me.

Astronomical Society of Kansas City (ASKC)Three other locations around the Kansas City area will be hosted by the ASKC (see bottom of post for more information).

The following information was compiled by the Astronomical Society of Kansas City (ASKC):

Transit of Venus FAQ

What is the transit of Venus?

Once in a great while, Venus can pass directly between the Sun and Earth. Only the planets Mercury and Venus can do this, since they are the only two planets closer to the Sun than Earth. When they do, they appear as small black dots crossing the face of the Sun over a period of several hours.

When is the transit of Venus?

From the Kansas City area, it will begin at 5:09 PM CDT on Tuesday, June 5th, and continue until sunset, which will be around 8:41 PM. Weather permitting, we will see 53% of the entire transit before sunset.

Why is the transit of Venus such a special event?

Because of the size and slightly different tilt of the orbits of Venus and Earth, a transit does not happen every time Venus passes between the Sun and Earth; it’s almost always “above” or “below” the Sun when it reaches what is called inferior conjunction. In a 243-year cycle, there are only 4 transits. They occur at very uneven intervals – the last one was in June of 2004, but the next one isn’t until December of 2117, 105 ½ years from now!

Historically, timings of transits of Venus were carried out in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries to trigonometrically calculate the size of the orbit of Venus, which when applied to Kepler’s 3rd law of planetary motion, determined the absolute (rather than relative) size of every other orbit in the Solar System. This was actually the best way to measure distances in the Solar System until radar and space probes became available in the latter half of the 20th century.

How can I observe the transit of Venus?

You can make a pinhole projector with a couple of pieces of card stock or a small cardboard box; just poke a small hole in one of the pieces or one end of the box, and position it such that it casts a small image of the Sun on the other piece or the other end of the box.

It will be a lot easier to see, though, through a suitable filter, either with your unaided eye or binoculars or a telescope completely covered by a full-aperture filter. Safe filters are available at HMS Beagle, a science store at English Landing in Parkville.

Where will there be organized viewing of the transit of Venus?

There will be at least 3 organized events in the Kansas City area:

  1. The Astronomical Society of Kansas City will open Powell Observatory in Louisburg. A map and directions are at http://askc.org/images/powell_map.jpg.
  2. The ASKC will also open Warkoczewski Observatory at UMKC, on the roof of Royall Hall. Park on the 4th level of the parking structure on the southwest corner of 52nd & Rockhill and take the skywalk into Royall, then up 2 flights of stairs to the roof.
  3. Kansas Citizens for Science, with assistance from ASKC members, will host observing from the rooftop of Coach’s Bar & Grill, 9089 W. 135th, Overland Park.

Lazy? or Distracted?

I spent too much time standing around on a sidewalk, staring up at the sun, moon, Venus and stars last week, when I should have been striding along it.  Apollo only got half the walks he usually gets in a week.  I just couldn’t resist the allure of a solar eclipse, hunting for the tiniest sliver of a new moon and earthshine on a moon near Venus to be bothered with walking.  My daughter stayed with us until Wednesday, returning to North Texas after visiting us for ten days after her college graduation.

My pedometer left me accusatory notes all week long, irritating me so much that I left it at home in “time out” one day. But stats don’t lie, and I only hit my goal of seven thousand steps per day one time last week:

Apollo finally got out of the house Wednesday evening, after Terry and I returned from dropping Rachelle off at the airport.  We repeated our evening walks for the rest of the week.  Not even the threat of thunderstorms could keep us cooped up in the house.

Red lilies
Click image for rest of album.

We welcomed the rain the thunderstorm brought.  The grass desperately needed a drink.  Thanks to the setting sun, a rainbow graced the sky east of our house.

IMGP3101
Rain brings rainbows (click image for rest of album)

I anticipate the final week of May to include more walking for both us.  Next week, I’ll be distracted on Monday and Tuesday by the moon and Venus again, but I hope to squeeze in walks with Apollo at the other end of the day from the astronomical observation points.

I hope everyone is having a fun and safe Memorial Day Weekend.

Remembering Roxy: Knock Knock!

Roxy with Royna and Derek July 2011
Roxy with Royna and Derek (July 2011)

My Memorial Day weekend edition of ‘Remembering Roxy‘ catches me scrambling after an incredibly chaotic week at work. I usually aim to publish these posts a few minutes past midnight on Fridays (thanks to automatic scheduling from WordPress).  Not only did work leave me exhausted, but I spent many evenings this week either visiting with my daughter or standing for hours outside on a sidewalk photographing the moon (during the solar eclipse and playing tag with Venus).  I woke up this morning and realized I neglected to finish writing about Roxy and door bells.

When someone rang the door bell at our house, before we rescued Roxy or Apollo, most of the time we couldn’t hear it.  The physical bell is located in the basement in the area where the water heater and furnace reside, directly under the coat closet and the front entryway.   Visitors could find themselves stranded on the front porch and may have resorted to calling our cell phones to get our attention.  All this changed when Roxy arrived.

Roxy could hear the screen door opening.  She would charge the door, growling softly but insistently.  If someone knocked, she might bark, once, sharply.  If the doorbell rang, without someone opening the screen door first, she would bark quickly, once, maybe twice, and then charge the door.  I never worried about intruders with Roxy on patrol.

When Apollo joined the family, we noticed a marked difference in his attitude towards the door bell and visitors.  Roxy continued to charge the door, and usually made it there first.  Apollo barked loudly and frequently, but did not attempt to rush in front of Roxy.  Rather, he would hang back and wait to see who came through the door, opting to circle behind them in his stealthy sneak attack mode.  Roxy and Apollo made a great team.  She charged in where angels, and Apollo, feared to tread.

Roxy and Apollo waiting impatiently for dinner. (Oct 2009)
Apollo takes point, but Roxy not far behind. (Oct 2009)

Terry discovered that a door bell sounded during a commercial, television show or movie could cause both dogs to jump up and start barking.  The first time this happened, they both ran to the door expectantly.  One day, he teased them relentlessly, hitting the ‘instant replay’ button on the satellite DVR remote, replaying a commercial with a particularly authentic sounding doorbell.  Eventually, both dogs gave him ‘the eye’ and grumpily went back to napping.

Knock Knock!

Who’s there? 

Howl

Howl who?

Howl you know unless you open the door?