MUSIC FESTIVAL SPOTTING When Solderpunk wrote about using binoculars for astronomical observations some time ago, I naturally checked through my binocculars collection which I've mainly accumulated for bird spotting (not a real hobby of mine, but all sorts turn up in the trees around the house and squark/scream/warble away, so it'd be a crime not to take a peak at them sometimes), and turned up an old Japanese "Diamond" brand 12x50mm model, inherited from my grandfather. They look very 70s, with a brushed aluminium finish and unusual design with the eyepieces below the lenses, but unfortunately they've actually been dropped and broken apart. They're still sort-of kept together by the focus adjustment linkages, but you have to hold them just right or else the view through the two lenses diverges and you end up looking at different things with each eye. I had a go at repairing them, building on my grandfather's own apparant failed efforts, but only ended up spending a long time trying to get them back together as well as they were before I started. gopher://zaibatsu.circumlunar.space/0/~solderpunk/phlog/binocular-observation-of-jupiter-and-the-moon.txt Then the weather wasn't right and I never got around to trying it out. But last night it was nice and warm, cloud-free, and there was a half-moon to look at. Plus Solderpunk published another phlog post that reminded me about it. I like to go wandering around the paddocks naked on warm nights anyway, so it was a prime opportunity to bring the binoculars along as well. gopher://zaibatsu.circumlunar.space/0/~solderpunk/phlog/more-binocular-astronomy.txt But lately I've also had another target in mind because for the last few days the bass notes of from a music festival have been beating their way some 25Km over to me, and I decided I'd finally try and work out whether I can see it. Trouble is that with various machines out harvesting crops at night this time of year, it's hard to tell which flickering lights are from a stage, and which are just a tractor going behind some trees. I think I eventually narrowed it down, but my creepy side had taken over by then and I was actually having more fun spying on all the vehicles driving about - you can just imagine what I'd be like in a city with lots of appartment windows around (cue Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window")! But I did also point my lenses skyward and got some good views of craters on the moon, as well as a orange spot with a little red spot next to it which _might_ have been Jupiter? Or else someone launched a hazard light into orbit. I'm not really into the whole star charts side of it, names seem mainly to be superfulous information, and frankly too much to think about for a non-constructive passtime. But I might attempt to spot some more somethings on other warm nights this summer, both ethereal and earthbound, complete with a tuneless musical accompaniment (well I'm sure it's not so bad if you can hear the high notes as well). - The Free Thinker P.S. Following up on my last post, the shipping container is all patched up and now waiting for me to work out how to get some old shed doors on top to act as a slanted root. Also, glow-in-the-dark lithophanes don't work - oh well.