Resonant Constellation

Well, summer is over now and school has begun. This means that I’m going to be quite a bit more busy with work, but at least I’ll have a normal sleep schedule. I’m really looking forward to this semester, as I’m taking an advanced laboratory course in which I get to design my own project. I’ve decided to grind my own telescope mirror and do several different optical tests on it, which is something I’ve always been interested in. Aside from this, I’ll get a nice telescope out of the deal, so it’ll be rather fun.

I also have some side projects going this semester, such as growing various plants and herbs. Several of us Physics/Astronomy majors decided it would be interesting to see if we could grow living things, so we got pots, soil, and seeds for various things. I’m growing basil, oregano, and tomatoes so that I can make my tomato sauce out of homegrown ingredients. Pete chose to grow corn, pumpkins, and watermelon, which should be interesting. Several of us are also considering trying our hands at homebrewing beer. The equipment is rather expensive, so we’ve decided to split it four ways. Still, the kit is supposed to produce about 5 gallons of beer, so we’ll end up with an excess.

In other news, I’ve finally figured out how to use my camera to take nice long exposure astrophotos. Although I don’t have a tracker, some of these photos turned out pretty well. I’ll post some in my next entry.