Offsite in Amsterdam, Reading Sean Carroll's The Big Picture and a video by Lisa Randall's proposed connection between dark matter and dinosaurs

Greetings from Palmia Observatory (currently at Okura Hotel in Amsterdam)

Well our fantastic vacation along the Rhine River from Basel to Amsterdam, in this mostly cloudy region, is coming to an end and all we saw in the sky was Jupiter and a few stars and the moon poking through the clouds.  Oh well there was a lot to see on the ground.  I also had some free time to read email and get started on reading Caltech's Sean Carroll's book, "The Big Picture", so I can offer a few comments in lieu of an Astro photo.

First, Searching for Gravity Waves, Dr Gary, commented on my recent photo of a large sundial mounted on the side of a church.  He told an interesting anecdote about

Motoring down the Rhine river, Astronomical Watch and old sundial show timekeeping and sky watching through the ages

Greetings from Palmia Observatory Staff, currently somewhere on the Rhine River,

Well we are offsite this week and haven't much luck with the weather when it comes to seeing anything but clouds in the night sky.  Astronomer Assistant's Danny and Ruby are off visiting with Got a Whole House Full of Dogs, Bob and Resident Astronomer's Peggy and myself are free to enjoy the cruise ship, Viking Eir, and don't need to worry about

Kip Thorne lecture at Chapman U, Larry cell phone photo of H Alpha, BBSO image, and other solar images

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well this has been a busy week as Resident Astronomer Peggy and I get ready to fly to Switzerland for our Rhine river cruise.  There was still a little time for some activity including a lecture by Kip Thorne, some astronomical/physics hydrogen-alpha spectrum and photos and a final note on telling time.

First I received an email from

Transit of Mercury, One good image before we got clouded out, same luck for Larry in San Diego, Scientist scribbling equations on plane gets questioned as suspected terrorist

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well, the most promising image(s) for this week are for the transit of Mercury.  Did you have any luck with the weather and capture the transit? The forecast was for some sun and some clouds and yes, that forecast was mostly right except for the mostly being cloudy part.

I slept in and just finished my first cup of coffee and found

Amateur radio astronomers plan annual meeting in Greenbank, VA, July, Planning for May 9 Lunar Eclipse, Evaluating new 600mm lens, and for fun A Capella Science video

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well the weather this week has been pretty bad for us local amateurs.  It makes me want to start observing in a different part of the electromagnetic spectrum.  Hey, I know, we could take up amateur radio astronomy.  If you want to consider the transition then you should check out the upcoming radio amateur astronomers annual meeting in GreenBank, WV, July 10-13.  It takes place at the National Radio Astronomical Observatory there and just being able to visit that

Thinking about gravity waves and working through the rubber ruler paradox and three hydrogen alpha images of the sun

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well the skies this week have been overcast and cloudy but with some stars poking through.  So, I mostly did some catching up on theoretical understanding of gravitational waves, but did manage to get the solar scope out and took a few photos of the sun.

I've been trying to understand how gravity waves impact matter that happens to be in their path and you will remember that last time I said I was skeptical that we could hear