21 December 2012

12 December 2012 1111 UTC has come and gone and I am still here.  Must relate somehow to the Mayan calendar having been drawn in a circle which has no beginning and no end.

20 December 2012

We are winding it down.

graphic from timeanddate.com

I will be operating over D-STAR as much as possible between now and the end.

12 December 2012

FITSAT-1 Haiku No luck – clouded out A full report will follow But first sleep, and dreams

This morning was the first attempt of the FITSAT-1 team to beam Morse code to Earth using the LEDs on the skin of their cubesat.

I arrived at Battery Park at 2345 EST 11Dec2012 and found a mackerel sky. The clouds appeared to be moving toward me out of the SW with clear sky behind them but the clear sky never arrived, likely an effect of foreshortening making the clear sky appear closer than it was. Eventually the mackerel sky broke up only to be replaced by a deck of stratus. I saw one light which would not resolve to a sharp focus but was obviously planetary – Jupiter.

At 2445 EST the clouds parted and I could see Orion. At times I could see Cursa, β Eri, mag 2.78, Saiph, κ Ori, Mag 2.07, and Nail al Saif, ι Ori, Mag 2.77, but these stars all came and went as the density of the clouds varied.

At about 0113:15 EST the clouds closed in again and the only star I could see was Rigel,, β Ori, Mag 0.28, which remained at least barely visible through the clouds until I stopped observing at 0118 EST, often surrounded by a ring of Glowing clouds.

Since I did not know where exactly the satellite was but knew it would be passing just above Rigel, and since Rigel was the only star in that neighborhood that was more or less constantly visible I concentrated my search on that area but did not see anything moving. It is likely that the satellite, at Mag 8, was too dim to burn through the clouds.

Takushi says the satellite should remain in orbit until sometime this summer so they will keep trying as propitious passes occur. I will keep trying as well.

2 December 2012

Coyote And The Pebbles When the Mother Earth was extremely young, things were not as they are now. Just as things are not now as they will be, for growth and change are constant. One night, the creatures gathered and called to the Great Mystery, the mystery that dwells within us and around us. Rabbit: Great Mystery, will you council [sic.] us? Great Mystery: What it it that you need? Frog: We need light. Fox: Frog is right. The day creatures have the sun . . . Fox then changes into a woman . . . . . . and when the sun is out, one can see forever. Even on a cloudy day, one can see a long way. Deer: We have only the moon. Owl: Sometimes it shines during the day, leaving us with nothing. On those nights, we need more light to see by. Great Mystery: Ahh . . . I want you to go down to the valley, to the river, creek, and lake. Gather for me the shiny pebbles that you find in the water. I want you to take these pebbles up the mountain and draw a portrait of yourself in the sky, as high as you can reach. Coyote, a day-and-night creature, was a little late for the meeting. Some say he was running on Indian time. Coyote: What are you doing? Raven: Wake up to this old man! They've started without you! The Great Mystery answered the call for more light in the darkness, and bid all night creatures to collect pebbles from the river, creek, and lake . . . Coyote turns to his human form . . . . . . and told them, "Bring them back to the mountain, and paint a picture of yourself in the sky." Coyote: Look at these selfish ones! They think only of themselves! I am the greatest artist in the World! Therefore, my drawing will be the largest and the best! As raven changes into her human form . . . Raven: Well, then, maestro, you'd better hurry. The others have a head start! Coyote: Hmph! Coyote descended into the valley. First he went to the river. Coyote: Oh, this will never be enough. He turned back to his animal form and then ran to the creek. Coyote: Hum, this will never do! Not enough yet. On the way to the mountain the lake sparkled. He looked down and saw shiny pebbles. He picked up the pebbles and dropped them into his shirt. Coyote: Well, this will have to do, for it is all I can carry! But when he reached the mountain top . . . Coyote: Look at this! They are taking up all the space, only thinking of themselves! Does no one realize I have not started? So selfish! Raven, don't they know they are taking up all the space and leaving me none? Raven: Selfish indeed! Coyote looked and ran to the left, then to the right, left again, then right, faster and faster, looking for a place to draw his portrait. Coyote: Ugh! I'll try another spot. There must be some empty sky somewhere! Each space grew smaller and smaller, until there was only one sizable space left. Coyote: Perfect! Keeping his eyes on where he wanted to be, and forgetting to watch where his feet were going Coyote tripped, fell, and spilled his pebbles from his pouch, hat, and shirt. Coyote: Oh, no! The pebbles sprang around, higher and higher, here and there, bumping into each other, until they were bumping into everyone else's drawings. Coyote: No, no, no . . . Pebble bumped pebble, and a chain reaction caused everyone's artwork to explode. The night creatures could only watch as their portraits were destroyed. Rabbit: Coyote, look what you've done to our artwork. Fox: What were you thinking? Deer: You've messed everything up - again! Great Mystery: What is going on? Rabbit: Look! Look what coyote has done! We were doing as you told us, and he has come and messed up our artwork! Great Mystery: Let us sit down and talk about what coyote has done. All of the night creatures grumbled and complained, but they all sat down. Coyote was ashamed of what happened, and he slipped away before the great spirit counciled [sic.] again with the night creatures. Great Mystery: The order of creation is already in place. Fox: What? We have to accept what Coyote has done? Why? The Great Mystery: Because the order of creation is already happening. Raccoon: We don't understand. Great Mystery: We cannot change what has happened. We cannot go back to last month, last week, or even five minutes age. Healing can happen. By looking at yesterday and its consequences, one can change tomorrow. Field Mouse: But what of our ruined portraits? Great Mystery: You did not ask to draw portraits. You asked only for more light, and you have it. Fox: We will accept Coyote's actions. but we are still angry with him. Tonight, you might hear coyote howling across the lake, in the field, or somewhere in the distance. You see, the night creatures are still upset with him, and will not let him join any of their celebrations. Know that Coyote is speaking to the Great Mystery, asking for another chance for the night creatures to draw their portraits again. And as you listen to Coyote, look up. Look above the tree tops, the mountains, the clouds and moon and you can see the pebbles coyote scattered. We call these pebbles . . . stars. Dayton Edmonds Caddo Nation

I picked up a copy of Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection (ISBN 978-1-595591-724-1). The book is set out in comic strip format and tells and illustrates stories from various Native American cultures. The one above is the first one in the book and the best as far as I am concerned. I have reformatted it from the panes of the book into something similar to paragraphs to make it flow a little better as pure text and also identified each speaker which is not necessary when the drawn character has balloon text coming from his mouth. I also liked Waynaboozhoo And The Geese.