Reflections of the University Lowbrow Astronomers.

Reflections of the University Lowbrow Astronomers is the monthly newsletter of the University Lowbrow Astronomers (the Lowbrows are an amateur astronomy club based in Ann Arbor, Michigan). Each issue contains eight pages full of late breaking astronomical news, information, reports, and club business. Most issues include several articles written by club members. Club business typically includes the topic of the current month club meeting as well as a list of upcoming astronomy open houses and events.

The following is a list of Reflections articles that are on-line. Many articles published in Reflections are not available on-line. The most recent issues of Reflections are not available.

If you are interested in reading all of the articles (included the most recent articles), you must join the club. We are a diverse group of around 90 amateur astronomers, ranging from amateur telescope makers to professional rocket scientists (really!). Some of us just like to read, while others like to get out and observe or photograph the heavens. The bottom line is that we all have a more than casual interest in astronomy, and you do not have to be a student or alumnus of the University of Michigan to join! Whether you are a novice or a seasoned veteran, we hope that you will find us to be friendly, knowledgeable, and fun to be with. The University Lowbrow Astronomers Club Page contains information on how to join the club.

If you are already a member of the club and wish to view full articles: go to the Members Only Area.

Otherwise you can view the material below. Some is in PDF format (this is true of most material written in 2011 and after). You will need a PDF reader to read PDF files. You may already have a PDF reader installed on your computer; if not, you can obtain one from http://www.adobe.com/

Complete Issues

If you are not a club member, the following sample newsletter(s) are available (they are abridged versions of the printed newsletters).

September 2001.	January 2009.
January, 2011.	February, 2011.	March, 2011.	April, 2011.	May, 2011.	June, 2011.
July, 2011.	August, 2011.	September, 2011.	October, 2011.	November, 2011.	December, 2011.
January, 2012.	February, 2012.	March, 2012.	April, 2012.	May, 2012.	June, 2012.
July, 2012.	August, 2012.	September, 2012.	October, 2012.	November, 2012.	December, 2012.

Astronomy and Physics Information

• Kurt Hillig. “The Lives of the Comets.” February, 1997.
• Kurt Hillig. “Why is a Comet When it Spins?” April, 1997.
• Mark Deprest. “Mark Explains.” June, 1997.
• Mark Deprest. “Mark Explains Again.” June, 1997.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Saturday Morning’s Strange Realities.” November, 1997. [The ultimate fate of the universe—Reporting on a presentation given by Dr. Greg Laughlin, The University of Michigan].
• Bernard Friberg. “How Close?” March, 1998. [Asteroid Collisions].
• Mark Deprest. “Questions by Children and Teachers.” October, 1998.
• Paul Walkowski. “Concerning Clusters.” April, 1999. [Note this includes a table that did not appear in the Reflections article].
• Lorna Simmons. “Musings of an Armchair Astronomer.” May, 1999.
• Lorna Simmons. “Ancient Time Keepers.” June, 1999.
• Lorna Simmons. “How Far is Far?” October, 1999.
• Lorna Simmons. “A Cosmological Conundrum.” November, 1999.
• Lorna Simmons. “The Dark Matter Mystery.” December, 1999.
• Lorna Simmons. “Sticking to the Cosmic Speed Limit.” January, 2000.
• Dave Snyder. “Essential Physics or What is Everything Made Of?” February, 2000. [This page includes revisions not published in the newsletter].
• Dave Snyder. “Fall 2000 Saturday Morning Physics: X-ray Astronomy.” January, 2001.
• Chris Sarnecki. “10 Questions Asked Amateur Astronomers.” August, 2001.
• Lorna Simmons. “The Old Gray Universe, She Ain’t What She Used To Be.” October, 2001.
• Lorna Simmons. “The Ptolemaic Way To Go.” November, 2001.
• Lorna Simmons. “From Little Bitties To Big Bunchies?” December, 2001.
• Douglas Warshow. “A Radio Map of the Sun.” January, 2002.
• Dave Snyder. “Gravity, Part 1: What Einstein Did For Astronomy.” January, 2006.
• Dave Snyder. “Gravity, Part 2: Newton, Hooke, Halley and the Three Body Problem.” April, 2006.
• Doug Scobel. “Ya Know What I Mean?” June, 2006.
• Dave Snyder. “Gravity, Part 3: Space Travel.” July, 2006.
• Dave Snyder. “Gravity, Part 4: Globular Clusters & Galaxies.” October, 2006.
• Dave Snyder. “Fall 2007 Saturday Morning Physics.” January, 2008.
• Dave Snyder. “Titan, Dark Matter and Black Holes.” June, 2008.
• Jason Maguran. “Sizing Up the Moons of the Solar System.” October, 2008.
• Mark S Deprest. “Atmospheric Optical Phenomena.” February, 2009.
• Tom Ryan. “Walking Inside a Photon.” March, 2009.
• Douglas Warshow. “Pluto and the Three-Zoned Solar System.” May, 2009. [Note this includes a diagram that did not appear in the Reflections article].
• Douglas Warshow. “Kuiper Belt Objects and the Re-Organization of the Solar System.” October, 2009.
• Douglas Warshow. “Pluto, KBOs and the Definition of “Planet”.” November, 2009.
• Tom Ryan. “Miracles and Wonders.” February, 2010.
• Sandy and Betsy Dugan. “Collecting and Identifying Micrometeorites.” January, 2011, p. 2.
• Sandy Dugan. “Building a Star Finder as a Way to Understand RA / Dec and Equatorial Mounts.” March, 2011, p. 2.
• Jim Abshier. “Latitude and Longitude from the Stars.” June, 2011, p. 2.
• Dave Snyder. “Nucleosynthesis.” March, 2012, p. 3.
• Norbert Vance. “Death from the Skies.” March, 2012, p. 5.
• Dave Snyder. “Nucleosynthesis, Part 2.” August, 2012, p. 3.

Astrophotography

• Clayton Kessler. “Simple Astrophotography.” August, 2001.
• Harry Juday. “Elusive Chain Nebula Captured on Film.” October, 2001.
• Clayton Kessler. “Storage Media for Analog Astrophotography! (Film for your Astrophotos).” May, 2002.
• Clayton Kessler. “Field Photo Processing—A Simple Alternative.” June, 2002.
• Clayton Kessler. “Equipment Review: The New Hewlett Packard Photo-Smart Printer with PhotoRet IV.” February, 2003.
• Doug Scobel. “Digital Imaging—The Lowbrow Way.” August, 2004.
• Doug Scobel. “Capturing Auroras the Lowbrow Way.” December, 2004.
• Brian Close. “First Run with an ST7.” July, 2005.
• David P. Tucker. “Shooting M42: Part 1, An Introduction to Digital Deep-Sky Photography.” May, 2006.
• David P. Tucker. “Shooting M42: Part 2, An Introduction to Digital Deep-Sky Photography.” June, 2006.
• Brian Ottum. “Climbing the Imaging Mountain—First Installment.” July, 2006.
• Clayton Kessler. “To Film or Not To Film... Part II.” September, 2006.
• Clayton W. Kessler. “New Equipment Review—William Optics Zenithstar 66 SD.” April, 2007.
• David Tucker. “M81.” May, 2007.
• David Tucker. “NGC4565.” July, 2007.
• Clayton Kessler. “Equipment Review: William Optics Megrez 90 APO Telescope.” July, 2007.
• Brian Ottum. “Winter Escape Star Party at Chiefland Astronomy Village.” April, 2008.
• Belinda Lee. “Imaging Quest.” October, 2008.
• Doug Scobel. “Canon Hackin’.” April, 2009.
• Clay Kessler. “Midwest Astro Imaging Conference 2009.” August, 2009.
• Clayton Kessler. “Stepping up the Focal Length.” December, 2009.
• Mark S Deprest. “Remote Astrophotography.” December, 2009.
• Doug Scobel. “Deep Sky Astrophotography—the Lowbrow Way.” January, 2010.
• Mike Radwick. “Memorial-Day Weekend.” August, 2010.
• Brian Ottum. “ASTRO-IMAGING FOLLIES.” December, 2010.
• Brian Ottum. “Adventures in Widefield Imaging.” September, 2012, p. 1.

Books

• Tom Ryan. “Summer Reading List.” July, 1997.
• Lorna Simmons. “Things for a Rainy Day.” October, 1998.
• Lorna Simmons. “More Rainy-Day Musings.” November, 1998.
• Lorna Simmons. “1001 Nights to Conquering the Cosmos (42 Years of Regular Attendance at Peach Mountain Open Houses).” December, 1998.
• Paul Walkowski. “Seeing the Deep Sky by Fred Shaaf (a Book Review).” February, 2000.
• Doug Scobel. “The Importance of Good Charts.” September, 2001.
• Harry Juday. “A Very Useful Basic Star Atlas.” November, 2001. [A Review of Seasonal Star Atlas and Glow in the Dark Star Finder].
• Harry Juday. “The Herald-Bobroff Astro Atlas.” November, 2001.
• Harry Juday. “Save Your Money on This One.” November, 2001.
• Harry Juday. “Booking on the Internet.” March, 2002. [Finding Used Astronomy Books].
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Seeing in the Dark by Timothy Ferris—A Book Review.” October, 2004.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Astronomy for Beginners, Map and Twenty Seven Engravings By Francis Fellowes, A. M.—A Book Review.” August, 2006.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “My 10 Favorite Astronomy Books.” February, 2010.
• Rudi Lindner. “The Love of Old Astronomy: Or Time to Change Meds.” May, 2011, p. 8.

See also the University Lowbrow Astronomers Book List.

Computers & Mathematics in Astronomy

• Dave Snyder. “Computational Cosmology and the NSF Technology Grid.” February, 1998.
• Mark Deprest. “An Amateur’s View of Occultations, Transits and Eclipses.” April, 1998.
• Dave Snyder. “How to Do an Effective Web Search.” October, 1998. [This contains two addenda not present in the original article].
• Dave Snyder. “Benoit Mandelbrot, Fractals and Astronomy (Part 1).” November, 1998.
• Mark Deprest. “Shadows on Jupiter.” October, 2001.
• Harry Juday. “Booking on the Internet.” March, 2002. [Finding Used Astronomy Books].
• Mark Deprest. “A Review: Planetarium for Palm OS.” July, 2002.
• Dave Snyder. “A Review of A New Kind of Science.” June, 2003.
• Tom Ryan. “Genetic Competition.” March, 2004.
• Dave Snyder. “Gravity, Part 4: Globular Clusters & Galaxies.” October, 2006.
• Mark S Deprest. “E-Astronomy or Arm-Chair Astronomy for the 21st Century.” June, 2009.
• Krishna Rao, MD. “The iPhone & Astronomy.” June, 2009.
• Mark S Deprest. “No Charge Astronomy: Part I, A quick look at Freeware Astronomy Software.” March, 2011.
• Belinda Lee. “Astronomy on a Smart Phone?” August, 2011, p. 3.
• Dave Snyder. “The New Lowbrow Blog.” November, 2012, pp. 9 and 10.

Equipment

• Doug Scobel. “Beating the High(?) Cost of Amateur Astronomy.” June, 1995.
• Doug Scobel. “Get a 60 Inch Telescope for $100.00!” December, 1995.
• Doug Scobel. “To Dew or Not to Dew.” October, 1996.
• Clayton Kessler. “The BW Optik 4” f6 Refractor Kit.” September, 1999.
• Clayton Kessler. “Refractor Madness!!” June, 2000.
• Bob Gruszczynski. “Meade Autostar Review.” October, 2001.
• Harry Juday. “Effective and Very Inexpensive Dew Shield Material!” October, 2001.
• Charles Nielsen. “Eyepieces... The Other Half of Your Scope (Part 1).” January, 2002.
• Clayton W. Kessler. “The Meade ETX 70 AT.” January, 2002.
• Charles Nielsen. “Eyepieces... The Other Half of Your Scope (Part 2).” March, 2002.
• Mark Vincent, Ph.D. “A Review: IS Binos.” June 2002.
• Gary Perrine. “Fooling Around With Filters.” October, 2002.
• Jim Forrester. “My Mak-Newt.” November 2002.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “New ‘Scope’ Review.” December 2002.
• Harry L. Juday. “Lowtech, Lowbrow Hand Controller Holder.” January, 2003.
• Joni Gruszczynski. “The Perfect Scope.” February, 2003.
• Doug Scobel. “Some People Never Learn.” February, 2003.
• Doug Scobel. “It’s Cool to be Square!” April, 2003.
• Doug Scobel. “Can You Do It? Make Your Own Telescope Mirror, That Is?” June, 2003.
• Doug Scobel. “What Do Telescopes Do?” July, 2003.
• Doug Nelle. “Your Own Tripod, Cheap!” July, 2003.
• Mark S Deprest. “The “Kingfish 8”: Rebirth of a Great Scope.” August, 2003.
• Doug Scobel. “What Do Telescopes Do? Part II.” September, 2003.
• Charlie Nielsen. “To Zoom or Not to Zoom-and Why.” November, 2003.
• Doug Scobel. “The Mars Scope Cometh.” February, 2004.
• Jack Brisbin. “The Multifunctional, Reprogrammable Velcromatic Side Bearings with Magic Slider.” March, 2004.
• Doug Scobel. “Do You GoTo?” January, 2005.
• John Horton. “I Shudda Planned Better—The Making of a Newtonian Telescope.” February, 2005.
• Bob Gruszczynski. “A Philosophical Question.” February, 2005.
• Bob Gruszczynski. “Telescope Review: Orion StarBlast.” March, 2005.
• Mark S Deprest. “A Gem in the Rough.” April, 2005.
• Nathan Murphy. “Adventures in Flocking.” April, 2005.
• Brian Close. “First Run with an ST7.” July, 2005.
• Michael Radwick. “First Light.” April, 2006.
• Mike Kurylo. “First Scope... Long Wait... First Light.” May, 2006.
• Yasuharu Inugi. “Homestar, A Compact Home Planetarium.” August, 2006.
• Tom Ryan. “Telescope Shopping.” September, 2006.
• Doug Nelle. “Refractor on the Cheap.” September, 2006.
• Mark Deprest. “A Review: Coronado P.S.T.” November, 2006.
• Doug Scobel. “Meet Smurfette!” January, 2007.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Grab-and-Go Scope Review.” February, 2007.
• Jim Abshier. “Amateur Radio Astronomy: 400 MHz Interferometer.” March, 2007.
• Clayton W. Kessler. “New Equipment Review—William Optics Zenithstar 66 SD.” April, 2007.
• Robert Wade. “Obsession Refit: Powering a Truss-Tube Telescope.” April, 2007.
• Clayton Kessler. “Equipment Review: William Optics Megrez 90 APO Telescope.” July, 2007.
• Jack Brisbin. “The Odyssey 2 Continues.” February, 2008.
• Brian F. Close. “Aperture isn’t everything.” March, 2008. [Includes a photograph printed April, 2008].
• Jack Brisbin. “Cleaning the 17.5 Coulter Mirror at Your Local Quarter Car Wash.” April, 2008.
• Jack Brisbin. “The Odyssey 2 Continues: Return of the Secondary Mirror.” April, 2008.
• Jack Brisbin. “Stellafane 2008.” September, 2008.
• Donald Fohey. “My First Telescope.” October, 2008.
• Mark S Deprest. “First Light of the “PK-457”.” December, 2008.
• Tom Stoner. “A Scope via Craig’s List, eBay, and AstroMart.” February, 2009.
• Doug Scobel. “The Best Sixty Dollars I Ever Spent.” March, 2009.
• Norbert Vance. “Tiny Telescope: A Step into the Past.” May, 2009.
• Yasuharu Inugi. “This Little Scope.” June, 2009.
• Paul J. Etzler. “Handy Accessory.” June, 2009.
• Mark S Deprest. “14mm 100 degree Explore Scientific.” July 2009. [This article was published in Cloudy Nights Telescope Reviews].
• Charlie Nielsen. “The Intes-Alter M703, Experience with a Mak-Cass.” August, 2009.
• Doug Scobel. “New Life For A Not-So-Old Scope.” November, 2009.
• Clayton Kessler. “Stepping up the Focal Length.” December, 2009.
• Yasuharu Inugi. “Kitchen Timer Mini Equatorial Trackers.” April, 2010.
• Brian F. Close, J.D., LL.M., M.A., T.N. “My Hot Camera.” May, 2010.
• Brian Ottum. “ALMOST HEAVEN.” June, 2010.
• Mark S Deprest. “Wood Wonders Eyepiece Case: A Review.” November, 2010.
• Sandy Dugan. “Building a Star Finder as a Way to Understand RA / Dec and Equatorial Mounts.” March, 2011, p. 2.
• Norbert Vance. “Conversion Factor.” May, 2011, p. 3.
• Doug Scobel. “The Lightholder Bucket.” July, 2011.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Dew Free Astronomy the Lowbrow Way.” October, 2011, p. 1.
• Jim Abshier. “Observing Chair.” October, 2011, p. 4.
• Doug Scobel. “Top Ten Reasons We Knew We Had A Dewy Night.” December, 2011, p. 1.
• Russell M Vente. The Mirror Machine.” February, 2012, p. 5.
• David Jorgensen. “Equatorial open fork mount for an 8” f/6 Newtonian.” March, 2012, p. 6.
• Brian D. Ottum, Ph.D. Michigan. “Review of the iOptron SmartStar A “Cube” Mount February, 2012.” April, 2012, p. 1.
• Paul J. Etzler. “In Praise of Cheap Binoculars.” May, 2012, p. 7.
• Amy Cantu. “INTRODUCING: The Ann Arbor District Library Telescope Collection.” June, 2012, p. 7.
• Jack Brisbin. “Antique Spyglass Confirms Transit of Venus.” July, 2012, p. 8.
• Paul J. Etzler. “Astroscan or Astroblast: The Results.” September, 2012, p. 4.
• Doug Scobel. “The Lightholder Bucket—Part Two.” December, 2012.

(See also Astrophotography above).

History

• Robert R. McMath. “The Francis C. McMath Memorial 24-Inch Reflecting Telescope of the McMath-Hulbert Observatory.” (Part 1 of 2). February, 1941. Printed in Reflections: December, 1997.
• Robert R. McMath. “The Francis C. McMath Memorial 24-Inch Reflecting Telescope of the McMath-Hulbert Observatory.” (Part 2 of 2). February, 1941. Printed in Reflections: January, 1998.
• Dave Snyder. “History of the Detroit Observatory.” December, 1998. [This article is one page within the The History of the University of Michigan Observatories. It has been modified since the article was published in Reflections].
• Lorna Simmons. “Musings of an Armchair Astronomer.” May, 1999.
• Lorna Simmons. “Ancient Time Keepers.” June, 1999.
• Dave Snyder. “An Observational History of Mars.” April and May 2001. [This was revised from the published articles].
• Rudi Paul Lindner.“Keeping Things In Perspective.” December 2002.
• Rudi Paul Lindner. “The Ghosts of Astronomers Past.” January, 2003.
• Dave Snyder. “The Lowell Observatory, Martian Canals and Photographs.” Winter 2003-2004.
• Dave Snyder. “Gravity, Part 1: What Einstein Did For Astronomy.” January, 2006.
• Dave Snyder. “Gravity, Part 2: Newton, Hooke, Halley and the Three Body Problem.” April, 2006.
• Dave Snyder. “Gravity, Part 4: Globular Clusters & Galaxies.” October, 2006.
• Norbert Vance. “Unadulterated Apollo.” February, 2007.
• Jack Brisbin. “The Geography of the Heavens, Pluto and the State Street Art Fair.” March, 2007.
• Dave Snyder. “Fall 2007 Saturday Morning Physics.” January, 2008.
• Liz Calhoun. ““To The Unmounted Lens” from the Hand-book of the Lick Observatory, Part 1.” May, 2010.
• Liz Calhoun. ““To The Unmounted Lens” from the Hand-book of the Lick Observatory, Continued.” July, 2010.
• Liz Calhoun. ““To The Unmounted Lens” from the Hand-book of the Lick Observatory, Conclusion.” September, 2010.
• Mark Deprest. “What’s the Story—Hercules.” May, 2012, p. 3.

See also the History of the University of Michigan Observatories.

Light Pollution

• Harry Juday. “Has Anyone Else Noticed It, Or Is It Just Me?” April, 2002.

See also the University Lowbrow Astronomer’s Light Pollution Page.

Observing (Deep Sky)

• Mark Deprest. “Sketch the Skies and Improve your Eyes.” January, 1997.
• Mark Deprest. “M83... At Last.” May, 1997.
• Mark Deprest. “At the Open House & What to Show the Public.” October, 1997.
• Paul Walkowski. “Sarah’s Story.” November, 1997.
• Mark Deprest. “Color Contrast in Double Stars.” September, 1998.
[This contains some minor changes not present in the original article].
• Mark Deprest. “Observing Tips.” February, 1999.
• Mark Deprest. “Freezing for Faint Fuzzies.” March, 1999.
• Mark Deprest. “Now For Something Completely Different.” September, 1999. [Color Contrast in Double Stars].
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Observing Naked (or I got 5.5 arcmins resolution).” October, 1999 (in part) and January, 2000 (in part). [Double Stars that can be split naked eye].
• Clay Kessler. “The Kitt Peak Advanced Observer’s Program.” April, 2000.
• Dave Snyder. “University Lowbrow Astronomers Naked Eye Observer’s Guide.” May, 2000. [This contains some modifications that were not present in the original version of article].
• Chris Sarnecki. “Amateur Astronomer Makes Record Double Star Split.” August, 2000.
• John Ridley. “Observing report, October 4, 2000.” October, 2000.
• Mark Deprest. “Constellation of the Month: Cancer: The Crab.” March, 2001.
• Mark Deprest. “Constellation of the Month: Lynx.” April, 2001.
• Mark Deprest. “Constellation of the Month: Hydra, Corvus & Crater; The Water Serpent, The Crow & The Cup.” May, 2001.
• Mark Deprest. “Constellation of the Month: Lacerta: The Lizard.” June, 2001.
• Mark Deprest. “Constellation of the Month: Cygnus, The Swan.” July, 2001.
• Bob Gruszczynski. “Ramblings of a Beginner.” February, 2002.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Michigan Messier Madness.” April, 2002.
• Harry Juday. “Has Anyone Else Noticed It, Or Is It Just Me?” April, 2002.
• Mark Deprest. “Explore Lyra.” June, 2002.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Dob-servin’.” August, 2002.
• Collin McClain. “Double Star Projects: The Spirit of 33.” August, 2002.
• John Ridley. “John Ridley’s Observational Report.” September, 2002.
• Doug Scobel. “Doug’s Deep Sky Challenge—Three Obscure Nebulae in Aquila.” October, 2002.
• Doug Scobel. “Doug’s Deep Sky Challenge.” December 2002.
• Doug Scobel. “Doug’s Deep Sky Challenge.” March, 2004.
• Doug Scobel. “Doug’s Deep Sky Challenge: Feeling Edgy Lately?” May, 2004.
• Doug Scobel. “On the Shoulders of Giants.” May, 2005.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Planetary Primer.” January, 2006.
• Doug Scobel. “Doug’s Deep Sky Challenge—Astronomical Companions.” January, 2006.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Phat Planetaries.” February, 2006.
• Lee A. Vincent. “Here It Comes Again!” March, 2006.
• Collected and arranged by Yasuharu Inugi. “Astronomy in Holiday Season.” December, 2006.
• Dave Snyder. “Belize and the Magellanic Clouds.” March, 2007.
• George Ferrier. “A Beginning Amateur Astronomer.” December, 2007.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Observat’n Resolution ‘08.” February, 2008.
• George Ferrier (edited by Mark S Deprest). “The Further Adventures of a Frustrated Astronomer.” February, 2008.
• George W Ferrier. “A Beginning Amateur Astronomer Part 2.” March, 2008.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Observat’n Resolution ‘08—Follow up Report, Part Une.” June, 2008.
• George W. Ferrier. “A Beginning Amateur Astronomer Part 3.” June, 2008.
• Mark S Deprest. “Invasion of the Lowbrows 2008.” August, 2008.
• George W. Ferrier. “The Further Adventures of Amateur Astronomers and Jr. Lowbrow’s.” August, 2008.
• Doug Scobel. “Doug’s Deep Sky Challenge.” January, 2009.
• John Causland. “Lowbrows Observe at 12 Below on Coldest Night of the Year.” February, 2009.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Okie-Tex Star Party 2009 Report.” October, 2009.
• Mark S Deprest. “Messier Marathon.” February, 2010.
• John Kirchhoff. “Messier Marathon.” March, 2010.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Far, Far Away—Getting Started in Quasar Observing.” May, 2010.
• Mark S Deprest. “An Observing Report.” June, 2010.
• Doug Scobel. “Gracie’s Bear.” August, 2010.
• Mark S Deprest. “Observer’s Challenge.” December, 2010.
• Mark S Deprest. “Observing at Low Power & Wide Field.” August, 2011, p. 6.
• Doug Scobel. “Doug’s Deep Sky Challenge—An Egg Hunt in Cygnus.” June, 2012.
• Doug Scobel. “The Eye of the Observer.” December, 2010.

See also the University Lowbrow Astronomers Observer’s Guides.

Observing (Solar System)

• Mark Deprest. “Sketch the Skies and Improve your Eyes.” January, 1997.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “A Comet Primer and Shades of Hyakutake.” February, 1997.
• Bernard Friberg and Kurt Hillig. “Hale-Bopp Watch.” February, 1997.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Lazy Man’s Comet.” February, 1997.
• Mark Deprest. “At the Open House & What to Show the Public.” October, 1997.
• Paul Walkowski. “Sarah’s Story.” November, 1997.
• Mark Deprest. “An Amateur’s View of Occultations, Transits and Eclipses.” April, 1998.
• William Hughes. “Confessions of an Eclipse Chaser.” April, 1998.
• Milton French. “The Leonids.” November, 1998.
• Mark Deprest. “Its Conjunction Time.” February, 1999.
• Mark Deprest. “Observing Tips.” February, 1999.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Three Rising Suns.” February, 1999 (in part) and May, 2000 (in part).
• Christopher Sarnecki. “What Satellite is That?” June, 1999.
• Dave Snyder. “University Lowbrow Astronomers Naked Eye Observer’s Guide.” May, 2000. [This contains some modifications that were not present in the original version of article].
• Dave Snyder. “An Observational History of Mars.” April and May 2001. [This was revised from the published articles].
• Bob Gruszczynski. “Ramblings of a Beginner.” February, 2002.
• Harry Juday. “Two Great Viewing Treats With Jupiter!” April, 2002.
• Harry Juday. “Has Anyone Noticed It, Or Is It Just Me?” April, 2002.
• Gary Perrine. “Fooling Around With Filters.” October, 2002.
• Douglas Warshow. “A New Viewing Technique?” July, 2003.
• Mark S. Deprest. “The Long Night of the Comets.” November, 2004. [This article was published in Photon, a bi-monthly astronomy magazine which aims to fill the gap left by the regular printed magazines. You must pay a charge to view this article].
• Doug Scobel. “Observe the Outer Planets!” June, 2005.
• Mark S Deprest. “Thirty-three... Almost.” April, 2006.
• Mark S Deprest. “P/Schwassmann-Wachmann (73P) C, B, G, R + 20 more.” May, 2006.
• Collected and arranged by Yasuharu Inugi. “Astronomy in Holiday Season.” December, 2006.
• Mark S Deprest. “C/2006 P1 McNaught—A Simple Story about a Comet.” February, 2007.
• Lee Vincent. “Lost on the Moon.” February, 2007.
• Mark S Deprest. “A Tail of Two Comets.” December, 2007.
• George Ferrier. “A Beginning Amateur Astronomer.” December, 2007.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Observat’n Resolution ‘08.” February, 2008.
• George Ferrier (edited by Mark S Deprest). “The Further Adventures of a Frustrated Astronomer.” February, 2008.
• Brian F. Close. “Aperture isn’t everything.” March, 2008. [Includes a photograph printed April, 2008].
• George W Ferrier. “A Beginning Amateur Astronomer Part 2.” March, 2008.
• George W. Ferrier. “A Beginning Amateur Astronomer Part 3.” June, 2008.
• George W. Ferrier. “Junior Lowbrows Update.” July, 2008.
• Mark S Deprest. “Invasion of the Lowbrows 2008.” August, 2008.
• George W. Ferrier. “The Further Adventures of Amateur Astronomers and Jr. Lowbrow’s.” August, 2008.
• John Causland. “Lowbrows Observe at 12 Below on Coldest Night of the Year.” February, 2009.
• George Ferrier & Fred Covel. “The Further Adventures of an Amateur Astronomer Part 7.” June, 2009.
• George W. Ferrier. “The Further Adventures of Amateur Astronomers and Jr. Lowbrows.” July, 2009.
• Mark Deprest. “Comet Comments.” October, 2010.
• Doug Scobel. “The Eye of the Observer.” December, 2010.
• Brian Ottum. “It’s Moving!” February, 2011, p. 4.
• Mark S Deprest. “Comet Comments.” August, 2011, p. 7.
• Robert Wade. “Did you see 2005YU55?” December, 2011, p. 2.
• George Ferrier. “George Ferrier & the Junior Lowbrows update.” April, 2012, p. 5.
• Jim Forrester. “Observing the Full Moon.” May, 2012, p. 5.

See also the University Lowbrow Astronomers Observer’s Guides.

Personal Reflections

• Doug Scobel. “Paying Forward (Or, How I Got Started in Amateur Astronomy).” March, 2005.
• Ken Cook. “My first Telescope.” January, 2006.
• Aaron Thero. “How I Fell in Love!” February, 2006.
• Nandini Hanagud. “Nandini & Sameer’s Story.” July, 2006.
• Angelika Cardew. “My Passion.” February, 2007.
• Kurt Hillig. “Searching for Supernova Remnants on Superior’s Shore or How We Celebrated our 25th Anniversary.” February, 2007.
• Michael Kurylo. “Gold Reflections.” February, 2008.
• Belinda Lee. “Happy One Year Anniversary!” July, 2008.
• Mark S Deprest. “You’re Welcome! & Thank You!” November, 2008.
• Liz Calhoun. “Just Look Up.” January, 2009.
• Mark S Deprest. “Lorna Jane Simmons-Bugbee 1931-2009.” March, 2009.
• Jason Maguran. “An Evening with Brother Guy Consolmagno.” March, 2010.
• Doug Scobel. “You Might Be a Lowbrow If...” April, 2010.
• John Manney. “Bring Your Own Scope...” August, 2010.
• Compiled by Mark S Deprest & Norbert Vance. “Why Astronomy? Part I.” October, 2010.
• Mark S Deprest. “Why Astronomy Part II.” December, 2010.
• John Manney. “The Clear-Sky Blues.” [Part 1] December, 2010.
• John Manney, “The Clear-Sky Blues.” [Part 2] January, 2011, p. 1.
• Mark S Deprest. “Why Astronomy? Part III.” May, 2011, p. 5.
• Mark S Deprest. “Why Astronomy?” December, 2011, p. 7.
• Jim Forrester. “A NOTE FROM YOUR NEW EDITOR.” May, 2012, p. 4.
• Mark S Deprest. “I Like to Observe Comets!” November, 2012, p. 8.

Radio Astronomy

• Douglas Warshow. “A Radio Map of the Sun.” January, 2002.
• Jim Abshier. “Amateur Radio Astronomy: 400 MHz Interferometer.” March, 2007.
• Dave Snyder. “The Allen Telescope Array: A Wide Angle Panchromatic Camera for SETI And Radio Astronomy.” July, 2007.
• Dave Benham. “SIMPLE RADIO ASTRONOMY.” July, 2010.

Spacecraft

• Roger Tanner. “Mars Pathfinder Update as of Mid October 1997.” November, 1997.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “What Satellite is That?” June, 1999.
• Dave Snyder. “Fall 2000 Saturday Morning Physics: X-Ray Astronomy.” January, 2001.
• Dave Snyder. “Roger Tanner Comes Home.” October, 2002. [A Description of a Mars Camera].
• Roger Tanner. “Phoenix Selected for 2007 Launch Opportunity.” August, 2003.

Star Parties and Expeditions

• Doug Scobel. “Just Smurfy.” September, 1997.
• William Hughes. “Confessions of an Eclipse Chaser.” April, 1998.
• Doug Scobel. “Deep Sky Observing—Texas Style.” May, 1998.
• Brian Ottum. “A Note from Brian Ottum—Subject: StarFest.” September, 1998.
• Brian Ottum. “Cub Scout Space Night a Huge Success.” November, 1998.
• Dave Snyder. “Mercury Transits the Sun.” December, 1999.
• Bernard Friberg. “Wow!!” August, 2000. [A description of the meteor shower and aurora of August 2000].
• Dave Snyder. “The Perseid Meteor Shower and Aurora of August 11/12, 2000.” August, 2000. [This article was renamed and revised since it appeared in Reflections. In particular it now includes some photography by Dennis Bartes].
• Mark S Deprest. “Observations of the 2001 Texas Star Party.” June, 2001.
• Mark S Deprest. “Daylight Astronomy: Lunar Occultation of Venus.” July and August, 2001. [This is based on text and photographs that appeared in July and August’s reflections].
• Charlie Nielsen. “S.M.U.R.F.S. 2001.” September, 2001.
• Kristina Nyland. “Astronomy Camp.” September, 2001.
• Dave Snyder. “The Fifth Annual ‘Astronomy at the Beach.’” September, 2001.
• Randy Pruitt. “A Private Night On Peach Mountain.” September, 2001.
• Clayton Kessler. “2001—A Leonid Odyssey (November 20, 2001).” December, 2001.
• Mike Garrahan. “A Sidewalk Telescope on Astronomy Day.” May, 2002.
• Douglas Warshow. “A Demo at Whitmore Lake Middle School.” June, 2002.
• Jim Wadsworth. “Journey Into Another World.” September, 2002. [Report from the Nebraska Star Party].
• Christopher Sarnecki. “BFSP—Get to Know it Well.” October, 2002.
• Bob Gruszczynski. “A Trip Down Under.” November 2002.
• Douglas Warshow. “A Bit of Great Space Adventures 2002.” December 2002.
• Gary Perrine. “Last Octobers Observing Trip to Grayling.” January, 2003.
• Collin McClain. “Talking to Sixth Graders.” February, 2003.
• Joni Gruszczynski. “The Perfect Scope.” February, 2003.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “A Day Trip to Palomar.” August, 2003. [Revised May 2005: Added photographs taken at Palomar].
• Mark Deprest. “The Black Forest Star Party Revisited.” October, 2003.
• Brian Ottum. “Confessions of an Elipse Chaser.” October, 2003.
• Dave Snyder. “The Seventh Annual ‘Astronomy at the Beach.’ ” November, 2003.
• Tom Ryan. “Astrofest 2003.” Winter 2003-2004.
• Mark Deprest. “Three Hours to Refresh Your Soul!” April, 2004.
• Collected by Chris Sarnecki. “A Medley of Lowbrows Venus 2004 Observing Reports.” June, 2004.
• Mark Deprest. “An Observing Report.” July, 2004.
• Mark S Deprest. “Impressions from the 2004 Black Forest Star Party.” September, 2004.
• Dave Snyder. “Two Days in Manhattan.” December, 2004.
• Dave Snyder. “A Tale of Two Observatories.” March, 2005. [Includes two photographs not included in the printed article].
• Bill Stegath. “A Serendipity Photo.” June, 2005.
• Tom Ryan. “Riders to the Lowbrows! (Or “Only 162 shopping days ’til Christmas”).” July, 2005.
• John Causland, Mark S Deprest and Doug Scobel. “Intrepid Lowbrows—An ACNO report.” February, 2006.
• Doug Scobel. “A Night at EMU’s Sherzer Observatory.” April, 2006.
• Charlie Nielsen, Captain of the good ship Lowbrow. “Captains Log, BFSP 2006—How I Survived the Lowbrow Invasion.” October, 2006.
• Robert Wade. “23rd Annual Okie-Tex Star Party: One Great Dark Sky Star Party!” December, 2006.
• Bob Gruszczynski. “Messier Marathon 2007.” May, 2007.
• Mark S Deprest. “So, you want to go to a “Big Star Party.” ” June, 2007.
• John Causland. “Observing Under Arizona’s Dark Sky & Only a 4 Hour Drive. Try It!” September, 2007.
• Dave Snyder. “The 11th Annual Astronomy at the Beach.” October, 2007.
• Doug Scobel. “Two Words.” November, 2007.
• Charlie Nielsen. “The Fifth Annual Great Lakes Star Gaze.” November, 2007.
• Charlie Nielsen. “Lowbrows Help Scouts With Merit Badges.” January, 2008.
• Brian Ottum. “Winter Escape Star Party at Chiefland Astronomy Village.” April, 2008.
• John Causland. “Up North Observing—Part II.” June, 2008.
• Mark Deprest. “The 2008 Green Bank Star Quest.” July, 2008.
• Mike Kurylo. “July 2008 Lowbrow Meeting Minutes.” August, 2008.
• Jack Brisbin. “Stellafane 2008.” September, 2008.
• Arthur Suits. “A Visit to Mauna Kea.” October, 2008.
• Doug Scobel. “Why Go to a Star Party?” November, 2008.
• Mark Deprest. “One Night at Tomahawk Creek.” November, 2008.
• Brian Ottum. “Saline Star Party.” May, 2009.
• Mark Deprest, Image by Clayton Kessler. “The Night of April 16, 2009.” May, 2009.
• Christopher Sarnecki. “Okie-Tex Star Party 2009 Report.” October, 2009.
• Donald R. Fohey. “Okie-Tex Star Party Experience.” October, 2009.
• Sandy Dugan. “A Visit to the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, December 2009.” January, 2010.
• Jason Maguran. “An Evening with Brother Guy Consolmagno.” March, 2010.
• Charlie Nielsen. “FROM CHELSEA TO THE UNIVERSE.” May, 2010.
• Brian Ottum. “ALMOST HEAVEN.” June, 2010.
• Charlie Nielsen. “LOWBROW ASTRONOMERS TAKE OVER ANN ARBOR SCHOOLS-May 18, 2010.” June, 2010.
• Charlie Nielsen, “Lowbrows On Tour, Part 1.” January, 2011, p. 7.
• Mark Deprest, typed (with minor editing) by Charlie Nielsen. “University Lowbrow Astronomers Meeting Minutes from Friday, January 21, 2011.” February, 2011, p. 7.
• Sandy Dugan.“Lowbrows Featured at Theme Semester.” April 2011, p. 4.
• Charlie Nielsen. “LOWBROWS ON TOUR, PART 3.” June, 2011, p. 8.
• Charlie Nielsen. “LOWBROWS ON TOUR, PART 4.” July, 2011, p. 4.
• Clayton W. Kessler. “Cherry Springs Star Party 2011.” July, 2011, p. 5.
• Charlie Nielsen. “A NIGHT IN SCIO FARMS ESTATES, Sept. 3, 2011.” September, 2011, p. 1.
• Charlie Nielsen. “LOWBROWS AT LESLIE SCIENCE CENTER, August 23, 2011.” September, 2011, p. 2.
• Clayton Kessler. “Emmet County’s “Headlands” International Dark Sky Site: An Astrophotographers Perspective.” September, 2011, p. 6.
• Don Fohey. “CLEAR III.” November 2011, p. 3.
• George Piner. “Okie-Tex 28, Sept. 24 - Oct. 1.” November 2011, p. 6.
• Norbert Vance. “Visit Your Local Planetarium (...or at least remind people they exist!).” January, 2012, p. 1.
• Charlie Nielsen. “LOWBROW 2011 YEAR IN REVIEW.” March, 2012, p. 1.
• Amy Cantu. “Ann Arbor Public Library events.” April, 2012, p. 5.
• Jim Forrester. “Conducting Lowbrow Open Houses requires some planning, but not a lot.” April, 2012, p. 6.
• Charlie Nielsen. “University Lowbrow Astronomers’ April 2012 Outreach Events.” April, 2012, p. 8.
• Don Fohey. “New Zealand Skies.” May, 2012, p. 1.
• Paul J Etzler. “May 20, 2012 Solar Eclipse.” June, 2012, p. 1.
• Mark S Deprest. “CLEAR IV (Spring 2012) Club Lowbrow’s Excellent Atlanta Retreat!” June, 2012, p. 5.
• Various Lowbrows. “The Transit of Venus: Lowbrows and the 2012 Event, A Medley of Lowbrows Venus 2012 Observing Reports.” July, 2012, p. 6.
• Jack Brisbin. “Antique Spyglass Confirms Transit of Venus.” July, 2012, p. 8.
• Jack Brisbin. “Thank You Lowbrows...” August, 2012, p. 8.
• Paul Walkowski. “Astronomy at the Beach 2012.” September, 2012.
• Jim Forrester. “Lowbrow Summer: 2012.” October, 2012, p. 1.
• Jim Forrester. “Ann Arbor Public Library Loan-a-Scope Program: Telescopes Made Available to Area Families.” October, 2012, p. 1.
• Jim Forrester. “Okie-Tex Star Party September 8-15.” October, 2012, p. 3.
• Brian Ottum. “The Darkest Spot in the Mitten.” October, 2012, p. 5.
• Norbert Vance. “Was It Only Last Summer? Another Memory of the Venus Transit.” December, 2012, p. 8.

Telescope Design and Optics

• Tom Ryan. “Sawing Glass.” November, 1996 [Title Changed: November, 2003].
• Tom Ryan. “Underwater Polishing.” November, 1996 [Title Changed: November, 2003].
• Tom Ryan. “Summer Reading List.” July, 1997.
• Tom Ryan. “Corrosion.” November, 2001 [Title Changed: November, 2003].
• Tom Ryan. “Observatory Paint.” November, 2001 [Title Changed: November, 2003].
• Tom Ryan. “Secrets of the Manufacturers.” December, 2001 [Title Changed: November, 2003].
• Tom Ryan. “The Art of Beveling.” January, 2002 [Title Changed: November, 2003].
• Tom Ryan. “Do You Foucault?” May, 2003.
• Tom Ryan. “Telescope Topics: October Skies.” October, 2003.
• Tom Ryan. “Telescope Topics: Interferometry Revisited.” November, 2003.
• Tom Ryan. “Genetic Competition.” March, 2004.
• Tom Ryan. “A Tale of Two Telescopes.” October, 2004.
• Tom Ryan. “Advice to Beginning ATM’ers—From the Mailbox.” January, 2005.
• Doug Scobel. “Got Aberrations?” May, 2007.
• Tom Ryan. “Grinding to Size.” April, 2009.
• Tom Ryan. “Mirror Mounts.” July, 2009.
• Tom Ryan. “Making Square Mirrors.” September, 2009.
• Tom Ryan. “How to Grind the Back of a Mirror.” December, 2009.

Telescopes

See “Equipment” above.

Other Resources....

• If you like the articles in Reflections, you may find the Lowbrow Blog intersting as well (http://lowbrows.blogspot.com/).
• If you can’t find what you are looking for above, there are many web sites with astronomy related information. Try Links to Astronomy Related Web Pages.

Links

• The Home Page for the University Lowbrow Astronomers.
• The University of Michigan Astronomy Department.
• The University of Michigan Gateway.
• A List of Other Astronomy Clubs in SE Michigan.
• Other Astronomy Related Pages.

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