Posts - Page 97 of 244 - JamesDixon.us

May 5, 2019May 5, 2019

5/5/2019 Skinning the Lid

I don’t think I’ve posted about the camper recently. Between bad weather and mainly lack of funding after a few rotten no good expensive weekends I haven’t done much. But I have been able to work on the lid. First picture shows the lid leaning against the camper, rigid foam glued to the ribs. This of course is the bottom. Next picture shows the lid sitting on saw horses over a drop cloth. Third picture shows the freshly applied gripper and canvas that will make the skin of the lid. I have to stop here because the paint has to dry. Unfortunately there’s not room for the lid like this and the camper at the same time so weather has to be nice.

April 27, 2019December 16, 2020

4/26/2019 Globular Cluster M3

Here’s a picture of Messier 3 (M3) in the constellation of Canes Venatici. Taken last night with my 11″ SCT set at f/6.3 at the River Ridge Observatory. If you are familiar with the stars Arcturus (4th brightest in the sky) and Cor Caroli (Alpha Canes Venatici) this lies almost exactly halfway between them and is an easy target with binoculars. M3 is a globular cluster of about 500,000 stars about 34,000 light years from here.
Come to National Astronomy Day at Pinnacle Mountain State Park on May 11 and you might see it for yourself. Click on the image to see it full size.

March 11, 2019March 11, 2019

3/10/2019 Allen’s Hummingbird

A rare Rufous Hummingbird was reported in Bryant yesterday. I went to see it this morning and was surprised to see what I believe is an Allen’s Hummingbird. These are west coast birds. They are occasionally seen in the east during migration, like now, but they have never been confirmed in Arkansas. An expert was consulted and she thinks it is an Allen’s. So Yay. State Bird Number 350. It was cloudy and only 30 minutes after sunrise so the picture is grainy. As of this writing, the bird has not been seen again.