Monday, February 27, 2017

2 new spots on a Saturday.

I had planned to go to Private Star Viewing Party at one of the over looks on the Natchez Trace. The goal was to practice for a Messier Marathon.

Charles Messier was a French astronomer who was totally obsessed with comets and as he explored the night sky looking for comets made a list of all the faint and fuzzy things he saw that were not comets. Today his list is set at 110 different items and in March (the optimum time) Astronomers attempt to find all 110 in one night, hence the marathon.

Now I know I am no where near ready for that but I made a list of several things I wanted to try and find. In order to round up the day I looked up breweries to see if we could find a cool spot for a drink and add to our growler collection. We settled on the Asgard Brewery in Columbia, TN.  A few weeks ago we had stopped by H.G. Hill and had a growler filled with their Huginn Porter which was spectacular. I wasn't sure from the website if the brewery served food or not but we were going to be early so if not we could always find dinner elsewhere.



When we got there I discovered just about the worst thing you would ever want to discover when going to a brewery that you are super excited about. I forgot my ID. Yes of course I hoped they wouldn't ID but as the responsible brewery they are they did ID and that was it for me. However Meg got to enjoy several brews. First she had their Heimdallr. Which she enjoyed but didn't want to take as a growler option so she had a flight in the most amazing flight container ever.

Flight in a Long Boat
Who wouldn't want to have a flight served in a Viking Long Boat?

They had some amusing decor like the award for best place to get in touch with your inner Viking (which is certainly true).







I mean you have the Long Boat Flight that you can enjoy while you sit out front surrounded by fire pits and the wonderful aroma and crackle of burning wood.



If you are near Columbia TN I suggest stopping by and checking out this unique brewery. And in case you were wondering we settled on a growler of cider (second from the left). If the Mead (far left) had been available for a growler she probably would have selected that one.










https://www.asgardbrewery.com/








When we left the Brewery we headed to the Natchez Trace to find our spot. Once we got there Meg used her GPS to search for food in the area. Well 12 miles away (not too bad) was a whole host of fast food options that we all know. Then 5 miles away was Papa Boudreaux's.


So since we were feeling adventurous and Meg loves all things Cajun we headed to Papa's.  Just two quick turns off the Trace at 3419 Fly Road, Sante Fe, TN and we arrived at a restaurant between two homes. I walked in only to discover that they were booked and in about ten minutes were going to be filled. The staff offered to make us food to go and the whole place smelled so good there was no way we could say no. We looked at the menu and choose to split an entree of Papa's Andouille Creole then added a side of dill weed potato salad. Then we saw the Boudin (Boo-Dan) Balls aka the cajun version of rice balls. So we added that.  They got us our food pretty quick and we headed back out to the Trace.

Once there I set up the telescope while Meg split the food. I took a pic of the food but it is dark because I was trying to avoid light. 


And the food didn't last long because it was amazing.  Next time we head out there I will do it right and actually make a reservation. And the cafe is BYOB so we will be stopping at Asgard for a growler of Viking inspired ale before heading to Papa's for some cajun cooking. If you are in Santa Fe, TN I suggest you stop by for a bite. Here is their website for more info- http://www.papaboudreauxscajun.com/

As far as the star viewing went it was cold. I found Venus and Mars (not from the Messier List) but my fingers became very cold and rather than playing with my telescope Meg and I just watched the stars come out and picked out constellations for awhile before taking the Trace back to Nashville and heading home.

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Solar Eclipse Party Update

So the preparation for the August 21st Solar Eclipse Party is going splendidly! Some of the supplies have started arriving including the eclipse glasses.








I purchased them from this website: https://www.teachersource.com/  One very important thing to note is the inside writing that shows it meets the ISO 12312-2 requirement for solar viewing. Looking at the sun is dangerous for your sight. A lot of websites may be selling glasses that do not meet these requirements which could make prolonged viewing of the sun extremely hazardous. The solar eclipse is going to be magnificent but safety must come first.

I have found some things to make gift bags for kids who come to the party, all solar system or general science themed, though I haven't made that purchase yet.

We have several backyard games and I got a rocket because why not!


I'm pretty excited about the possibility of soaring up to 50'.


After researching several different citizen scientist projects I found the Eclipse Mega Movie project (https://eclipsemega.movie/ ) and keeping that in mind I bought some equipment. We haven't tested it yet but I bought a solar filter for Meghan's Cannon Rebel to catch photos leading up to Totality. Then she will be able to remove the filter to hopefully catch photos of the Corona (crown) around the sun during Totality and also the Diamond Ring Effect just before and just after Totality. This is when people report seeing a bright light that looks like a jewel in a diamond ring caused by sun light being concentrated through a crater on the moon surface.

http://www.weatherscapes.com/


Another piece of equipment I bought for her camera is the T-ring and adapter we needed to attach her camera to our telescope. Last night we hooked it up for the first time. Obviously there will be a learning process but here are the first photos we captured of the moon.








Finally I have a Go-Fund-Me page to help us raise money for the party. As I have said when I have shared it in the past on facebook and twitter I realize there are many more pressing and important causes on Go-Fund-Me but also I think we have a once in a lifetime event and chance here to bring some of our excitement about the Solar Eclipse to many people. It's hard to put into words but with each day  (there are 190 left until the Eclipse) I get more and more excited. Last night with the telescope trying to capture images of the moon I felt like a kid again.

We have different suggested donation amounts that come with various rewards. One of the rewards is a shout out here when the donation is made as well as in the blog post I will write after the event. Well we got a donation from a real good friend who donated anonymously so I won't mention my friend's name but still I want to acknowledge it here.

If anyone reading this could help me by spreading this page or donating that would be appreciated:  https://www.gofundme.com/2sjdtm6k

Also I am using the Go-Fund-Me to try and invite several celebrities who most certainly will not ever come but it would be awesome to get it to their attention and maybe at least get a "no thank you".  So any help again in spreading that would be cool.