Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Light Pollution in the Southwest

For those of us who are stargazers that love to look up at night, one of our primary concerns is anthropogenic illumination, a.k.a Light Pollution. Damsel and I remember one night in southwestern Utah at Zion National Park when we looked up to see so many stars that it was difficult to discern any of the major constellations since the sky was virtually filled with visible stars. Zion is remote enough that lights from major population areas are far over the horizon, thus providing a memorable and overwhelming view of the stars and galaxies in God’s wonderful universe.

Here in Wickenburg, we have fairly dark skies, but depending upon the time of night, we still have a little light pollution that interferes with our stargazing. However, just sixty miles southeast of here is the giant megalopolis of Phoenix and surrounding cities that don’t give a hoot about dark skies. As a result of that, our views in the direction of the Valley are clouded by that massive amount of candlepower.

Referring to the image above, Wickenburg is in the approximate center of the image on the border of Maricopa (south) and Yavapai (north) counties — you can see our little light blob just at the west end of the “notch” in the north side of Maricopa County. The giant light blob to the southeast of our town is the afore-mentioned megalopolis. You can see how their pollution might affect the dark skies of our area.

About the images on this page: due to a fluke in the GOES Southwest USA Imagery, I captured these nighttime images without the normally present clouds and other observed phenomena. These are the pre-programmed night images sans the clouds. The image at the top is cropped to show our area while the image below is the entire background for the GOES Southern Rockies nighttime view. Click on either image to enlarge; use the scroll bars to navigate the large image below.

Complete No Weather Southern Rockies GOES image:

09 Apr 2025 by Arizona Astronomy Technobabble 0

New RV Internet Solution

Since our last RV excursion in April of 2024 to view the total eclipse of the sun, there were some lessons learned regarding internet connections and reliability during the trip. We were never completely without internet service most of the time, but there were places where our usual access via campground WIFI or the Samsung hotspot were spotty, unreliable, bandwidth limited and/or just plain awful. These conditions were, to say the least, frustrating to us who depend on our internet access for:

  • entertainment
  • campground reservations
  • financial access
  • email
  • social media
  • VOIP telephone access

We needed something better.

Enter the new solution to the problems: Starlink Mini. Our package arrived today and within an hour after unboxing the system, we were on the satellite network with speeds of around 100Mb/sec. Good enough for each of the enumerated tasks above.

The mini unit is shown in the (clickable) photo below perched on the outdoor grill behind our house. The unit is self-contained and has the built-in Phased Array Antenna, associated electronics and a WIFI to facilitate access to the internet. MADE IN THE USA BY STARLINK!

Starlink Mini Unit

The next (clickable) photo shows the approximate sky view as seen by the mini unit. We live in sort of a low area looking to the north, with part of the sky obscured by rising terrain and structures up there. Regardless, the unit performed very well given the possible obscurations.

Approximate Sky View

A catalyst in our decision to go with Starlink now, was the terrorist attacks on Tesla and other Elon Musk enterprises. We saw this as an opportunity to support SpaceX, Starlink’s parent company, by acquiring this system (in lieu of buying a Tesla) to support Musk, who endures daily threats as he continues to work the new Department of Government Efficiency.

We pray that the loonies doing the terror be found soon and be dealt with appropriately.

22 Mar 2025 by Cyberspace Degenerates Law and Order Notions Technobabble Wanderlust 2

Spring Equinox 20 March 2025

Happy first day of Spring (northern hemisphere)! We’re off to a good start with daytime temperatures in the mid 70s and forecast to become in the mid 90’s in a week or so.

Greeting me on the first day of spring were these two critters — a cactus wren on the block feeder and an antelope ground squirrel foraging in the west side of the yard:

We always get a lot of comfort and enjoyment when the creatures which abound in our little corner of the desert show themselves to us and our cameras.

Both images were taken with the Canon EOS Rebel SL3 and an EF 55-250 lens at 250mm. Click on either image to view enlarged.

20 Mar 2025 by Arizona Critters Culture Notions Photography 0

Happy St Patrick’s Day!

This date in history marks the 1564th anniversary of the death of Saint Patrick; the sixth-century icon who lives in perpetuity by virtue of his 30 years of activity in restoring the Christian Faith to the island of Ireland. The video below takes a serious look at how St. Patrick’s day came about. And no, it isn’t about getting drunk and engaging in gluttonous behavior on March 17th.

Dave Stotts takes a look at the history surrounding the life of St. Patrick in this video – watch time almost an hour. Damsel and I watched it and got a lot out of the actual reasons and history behind the St. Patrick’s Day celebration. There is a good amount of travelogue footage in the video as well. I recommend watching it on the You Tube full-screen and not in the <iframe> below.

And speaking of gluttony, we’re going to have a traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner to celebrate, but not in the portions that would actually make us gluttons. We might celebrate with an Irish cocktail for dessert. Hope that y’all have a great day.

Near the end of the video, Dave, the host and narrator of the video, offers this rendition of a prayer attributed to St. Patrick:

May the Strength of God guide us.
May the Power of God preserve us.
May the Wisdom of God instruct us.
May the Hand of God protect us.
May the Way of God direct us.
May the Shield of God defend us.
May the Angels of God guard us.
– Against the snares of the evil one.

May Christ be with us!
May Christ be before us!
May Christ be in us,
Christ be over all!

May Thy Grace, Lord,
Always be ours,
This day, O Lord, and forevermore. Amen.

Amen, and and have a blessed St. Patrick’s Day!

17 Mar 2025 by Culture Holidays Notions Religion 0

Moon PI

PI, the ratio of a circle to its diameter is about 3.14 and for some neo-cultural reason we now celebrate “PI Day” on March 14th of each year. Those of us who score very well on the Nerd Test, can appreciate this nerdy quasi-holiday.

As it turns out, we had sort of a coincidence overnight when the Moon became obscured by the Earth’s shadow (umbra). Damsel and I observed the phenomenon after midnight just before hitting the hay.

SpaceWeather.com posted the image below on their website of the Moon, as seen from Earth and the Earth as seen from the Moon during the eclipse. The Blue Ghost lunar lander took the earthward image seen on the right side of the composite image.

Astronomy Picture of the Day posted the explanation that when an eclipse of the Moon occurs the angle between the Sun and the Moon from Earth’s perspective is approximately 3.14 Radians (180°).

Happy Moon PI Day!

14 Mar 2025 by Astronomy Notions Technobabble 0

USS Brooklyn March 1943

Eighty-one years ago, during WWII, in Casablanca harbor, my father was stationed aboard the USS Brooklyn as an Electrician’s Mate, Second Class. Dad went on to become a Chief Warrant Officer in the US Navy.

USS Brooklyn CL-40 in Casablanca harbor – March 1943

The first of the nine Machine Gun Cruisers*, USS Brooklyn was commissioned in September 1937. With a primary armament of fifteen 6”/47 guns in five triple turrets, each 6”/47 gun had a maximum rate of fire of 8-10 shells a minute. Theoretically, a Brooklyn-Class cruiser could fire a total of 120-150 6” rounds a minute at a target.

USS Brooklyn survived WW2 and was put into reserve in 1946, in 1951 she was transferred to Chile, where she was renamed O’Higgins. Serving for 40 years in the Chilean Navy, she was sold for scrap in 1992, but foundered and sank while under tow to shipbreakers in India. One of her 6”/47 turrets is preserved at the Chilean Navy base at Talcahuano.

LIFE Magazine Archives – J R Eyerman Photographer

*Machine Gun Cruisers typically refer to naval vessels equipped with multiple machine guns for anti-aircraft and anti-small craft defense. The Brooklyn-class cruisers, for example, were armed with several M2 Browning machine guns alongside their main artillery, enhancing their combat capabilities during World War II.

I find the installation and use of the .50 BMG M2 Machine guns to be particularly interesting:

The .50 Browning Machine Gun (BMG) round is one of the most widely used service ammunition. Also known as the .50 Browning and the 12.7x99mm NATO, it is currently listed as military ammunition for the U.S. and at least 30 other countries. However, civilian shooters also enjoy .50 caliber shooting – using this rifle round for long-range hunting and shooting competitions. Developed in the early 1900s by John Moses Browning, the .50 BMG is a scaled-up version of the .30-06.; No stranger to military and law enforcement use, .50 BMG ammo has been fired from WWII fighter aircraft and is still used today on helicopters and ground vehicles.

Once the DOJ and the SCOTUS gets off their collective asses and removes the infringements on ALL firearms and accessories, we might want to own one of those. The ammo, however, is quite expensive and could burn through your weekly allowance in one quick hurry when you go down to the range to have some fun.

10 Mar 2025 by Classics Firearms Military Nostalgia

Tate

Welcome to our *fifth* great grandchild, Tate. He was born on the 2nd of March in Sacramento, California, to our youngest granddaughter and her husband. Tate is the first child to be born to the couple.

Our other four great grandchildren ranging in age from five to ten years, are also in California, in and around the Santa Rosa area. Two boys belong to our eldest granddaughter living in Windsor and two girls belong to the middle of the three granddaughters living in Rohnert Park.

We have met and held the three older kids, but have yet to see the younger two in person. Perhaps in our upcoming travels we may finally get to see them all.

Both photos above were taken of Tate with his mom before coming home from the hospital. Click on either image to view enlarged.

08 Mar 2025 by Family

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