Kepler Observations Confirmed; Hubble’s 1st Frontier Field; JWST Mission Status – Video

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Kepler Observations Confirmed; Hubble #39;s 1st Frontier Field; JWST Mission Status
Live streaming from the AAS last week can be seen here: http://ustream.tv/channel/hubble-stream Kepler: http://www.nasa.gov/ames/kepler/nasa-kepler-provides-...

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Kepler Observations Confirmed; Hubble's 1st Frontier Field; JWST Mission Status - Video

John Dobson dies at 98; former monk developed easy-to-make telescope

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John Dobson, a former monk and self-taught stargazer who developed a powerful, inexpensive telescope that almost anyone could build and showed thousands how to do it during five decades as one of public astronomy's most influential evangelists, has died. He was 98.

Dobson died Wednesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, said Bob Alborzian, coordinator of the Burbank chapter of Sidewalk Astronomers, an international organization that Dobson helped found in 1968. Dobson had been in poor health since a stroke a few years ago.

Called the "Johnny Appleseed of amateur astronomy," the lanky, ponytailed Dobson started building telescopes in the 1950s when he was a monk at the Vedanta Monastery in San Francisco. His passion for the hobby led to his expulsion, freeing him to become a roving ambassador for the simple joys of studying the nighttime sky.

"He really wanted to just share viewing the sky with people," said Anthony Cook, astronomical observer at Griffith Observatory. "He created a hobby and a type of telescope that ensured that people could build their own and look farther across the universe than was possible for most people before his time."

Dobson used cheap or salvaged materials such as ship portholes and cardboard tubing to make his telescopes, the most radical feature of which is a simple, sturdy and highly effective wooden mount that allows users to easily point the scope at any spot in the sky.

His design was eventually embraced by commercial manufacturers, who advertise the telescopes as "Dobsonians." They remain "one of the most popular telescopes on the market," said Dennis di Cicco, senior editor of Sky & Telescope magazine.

Dobsonian telescopes have made important contributions to astronomy, including the discovery in 1995 of Comet Hale-Bopp, the farthest comet ever discovered by amateurs. One of its namesakes, Tom Bopp, was using a Dobsonian.

Alborzian, who had known Dobson since 1968, said he once urged Dobson to patent his design. Dobson refused. "He said, 'These are gifts to humanity,'" Alborzian recalled. "His goal was to open astronomy to the common man."

Dobson had his critics. He did not, for instance, subscribe to the big-bang theory but favored the idea of a "steady-state" universe with no beginning and no end. "I'm not interested in just the stars," he told The Times in 2005. "I'm interested in the whole ball of wax."

Although the steady-state theory has been widely discredited, Dobson was an unwavering supporter, which caused many in the astronomy establishment to dismiss him.

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John Dobson dies at 98; former monk developed easy-to-make telescope

Astronomy Day turnout on increase

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CLARKSBURG The Central Appalachian Astronomy Club and Dominion Resources held Astronomy Day Saturday afternoon at the Gaston Caperton Center Fairmont State University Clarksburg Campus.

This annual event takes place every January and welcomed all ages to come out and enjoy the wonders of the sky.

Joe Gonzales, one of the founding members of the club, said this was the 14th year for the event, and the turnout continues to increase.

One of the featured speakers was Mark Indy Kochte, operation specialist for the Messenger Mission, with an inspiring presentation of "Comets Messengers from the Depths Of Space.

Comet is derived from Greek, and means long-haired star, Kochte said.

Kochte added the Messenger is a spacecraft orbiting Mercury.

Time-lapse photography is one of Kochtes hobbies that he does for fun on the side.

The videos normally take a couple weekends to put together, Kochte added.

Kochte has attended Astronomy Day for the past 12 or 13 years and said it is a great opportunity for people to learn something about space that they do not already know, and they can learn from someone who has direct experience in the subject.

Depth and detail are key when providing information, Kochte said.

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Astronomy Day turnout on increase

Top 3 Most Common Landing Page Mistakes and How to Avoid Them – Tim Ash (ASW14) – Video

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Top 3 Most Common Landing Page Mistakes and How to Avoid Them - Tim Ash (ASW14)
http://smileshocker.com I met Tim at Affiliate Summit West 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was super nice to grant me this interview despise his busy time. "Ti...

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Top 3 Most Common Landing Page Mistakes and How to Avoid Them - Tim Ash (ASW14) - Video

Comets clip Amboy

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The Newman Comets scored 22 points in each of the final three quarters Friday night in Amboy, downing the Clippers 81-52 in a Three Rivers North game.

The Comets (17-0, 5-0) led 15-12 after one quarter, then proceeded to outscore Amboy (2-13, 0-4) 66-40 the rest of the way. Newman shot almost 50 percent from the floor (28-for-57) and 40 percent from 3-point range (9-for-22), and forced 23 Clipper turnovers.

A.J. Sharp had 26 points, three assists and three steals, and Noah McCarty added 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Comets. Nate Terveer finished with 12 points and four steals, and Micah Trancoso dished five assists.

Ottawa 63, Sterling 50: The Golden Warriors led 37-34 at halftime, but were outscored 29-13 in the second half of a NIB-12 West loss at Kingman Gym.

Zach Rehmert had 15 points for Sterling (6-8, 2-2), and Joe Brouilette added eight points and four rebounds. John Carroll scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Pirates (14-1, 4-0), including their only 3-pointer.

Morrison 50, Erie 36: Bill Greul scored 16 points, and Kaleb Church had 10 points, as the Mustangs (8-11, 4-1 Three Rivers North) handled the Cardinals in Morrison.

Ken Cole led Erie (0-17, 0-5) with 11 points.

Bureau Valley 69, Riverdale 45: Tommy Johnston tossed in 22 points, and Parker Neuhalfen added 17 as the Storm (14-7, 5-0 Three Rivers North) routed the Rams in Manlius.

Jake Gellerstedt had 21 points for Riverdale (5-11, 1-4).

Prophetstown 61, Fulton 51, 2OT: Ethan Howard scored 24 points, and Grant Ames added 20 as the Prophets (4-10, 1-3 Three Rivers North) upset the Steamers in Prophetstown.

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Comets clip Amboy

Comets Claim Victory over Wave

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January 17, 2014 - Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) Missouri Comets INDEPENDENCE, Missouri - In front of 4,349 fans at the Independence Events Center, the Missouri Comets earn a victory over the Milwaukee Wave in the first half of the home-and-home series that is taking place this weekend. The Comets clicked all night both offensively and defensively, scoring a 22-4 victory. Aided by three long range three-point goals against Milwaukee's sixth attacker, the Comets never trailed and ran away with the victory in the fourth quarter. Lucas Rodriguez led all scorers with seven points for the night.

The first half was a strong one for the Comets. Rodriguez started off the night with a power play goal four minutes into the first quarter. Milwaukee's Ian Bennett would take credit for the Wave's only goal of the half, tapping a shot past Comets goalkeeper Danny Waltman's reach.

Leo Gibson, with the help of a Milwaukee defender, broke the tie shortly after that and Byron Alvarez tapped in a goal from the corner to end the quarter. Defender Brian Harris only needed fourteen seconds of the second quarter to blast home a three point goal and give the Comets a 9-2 lead they would take into the half.

Wary of a third quarter Wave comeback the Comets buckled down defensively. Expectedly, Coach Keith Tozer's squad came out very aggressively from the break. The Wave's Luan Oliveria would score the second, and ultimately final, goal for Milwaukee with five minutes to spare in the period. However, John Sosa worked a perfect restart pass to Lucas Rodriguez to answer.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Comets. Ramone Palmer would score midway through the period to increase the Comets lead to 13-4. Milwaukee then inserted the sixth attacker to try and climb back into the match. Fortunately for the Comets, Robert Palmer, Harris and Rodriguez each took advantage of an open net for three-point scores. Altogether, Missouri netted an eleven point final quarter and a 22-4 victory.

These same two teams square off tomorrow night in Milwaukee at 6:00pm CT. Fans can watch the match live on the Comets website, CometsIndoorSoccer.com/Live-Feed. Missouri returns home to the Independence Events Center next Friday, January 24th at 7:35pm CT to face the St. Louis Ambush in the team's annual Retro Game. For tickets or information call 855.4KC.GOAL.

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Comets Claim Victory over Wave

Balanced Comets take down Rebels

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FULTON Starting with the Caston Shootout from earlier in the month, J.R. Howells Caston squad has been able to mend its early wounds from the comforts of home.

The Comets entered Friday nights game having won four of five games during the home stretch and were looking to continue the success against conference foe South Newton Friday.

Needless to say, the Rebels have had another rough start to their season, entering at 1-6 so far. In fact theyve gone just 3-68 going back to the 2010-2011 season.

In his second stint as head coach at South Newton, Michael Hall is trying to resurrect his once-found success, having led Rebel teams to 258 victories and three sectional titles.

Balanced scoring was the key Friday, as the Comets jumped on South Newton early. Caston scored 12 unanswered points to start the game and never looked back, finishing with a 55-38 victory.

Quentin Douglass got things started with a 3 followed by consecutive stickbacks by juniors Jake Kingery and Alex Howdeshell. The surge culminated with another 3 by freshman Eli Douglass. A Howdeshell jumper gave Caston a 16-4 lead, but Trever Lowe scored on a steal and layup as time expired to draw the Rebels to within 10 after one.

Junior Dustin Offenberger drilled a 3 to start the second, adding to his four first-quarter points. After a 5-0 run by South Newton junior Levi Hall, Caston proceeded to go on a 10-0 run to close out the half. Quentin Douglass and Offenberger scored on back-to-back three-point plays to give Caston a 29-13 lead at halftime.

Despite a recent slump from long-range, Offenberger has been a key part of Castons new inside threat.

Ive been trying to attack the rim more, he said. Coach Howell has been telling me to take it to the rim, and be strong with the ball.

The start of the third period saw the Rebels make their last stand and quite possibly gave them a glimpse of the future. Six-foot-5 sophomore Jarrett Hammell ignited South Newton by hitting a jumper from the wing followed by two more buckets to draw the deficit to nine with 4:22 to play. He led South Newton with 15 points in the game. Eli Douglass answered the brief run with a 3 followed by two baskets by Brayton Jellison.

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Balanced Comets take down Rebels

BBK: Comets, Rockets to battle Saturday

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Newman's boys basketball team is facing a tall task, both literally and figuratively, on Saturday night.

The Comets (17-0) will venture out of conference play to tangle with Rockridge (16-0) in the marquee game of the Manny's Pizza Shootout. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m., and is the last of seven games to be played that day at Mount Carroll Middle School.

The Rockets are the unanimous No. 1 team in the latest Associated Press Class 2A poll, while the Comets check in at No. 4.

"This will be a great measuring stick for us," Newman coach Ray Sharp said. "Sometimes we tend to get a little stagnant in practice, and having a game like this coming up is great motivation to keep improving. We have some lofty goals we want to accomplish, and if we are to do that, we'll see a team like Rockridge in the supersectional."

Sharp has scouted Rockridge three times this season, including Jan. 4 at the Galesburg Shootout. The Rockets knocked off Rockford East 63-60 that night.

"Their five starters are all really, really good," Sharp said. "They can all hurt you in a lot of ways."

Leading the way for the Rockets is 6-foot-8 senior center Ethan Happ, a Wisconsin recruit. He averages 31 points and 13 rebounds per game.

"He has the ball skills of a guard, but he can score down low," Sharp said. "When they feed the ball into him, we'll have to double down, and that's going to put a lot of pressure on our other players. We need to play great team defense."

Rockridge's second option is Brian Heath, a 6-4 junior wing who averages 23 points and eight boards a game.

"He's just so athletic," Sharp said. "He can dunk the ball any way you want it, but there's more to his game than that."

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BBK: Comets, Rockets to battle Saturday

Two little spiritual gems (Book Review)

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Title: Practical Spirituality for Enriched Living: Author: Shri Nimishananda; Publisher: Satsangh Publications (Bangalore); Pages: 231; Price: Rs.225

Title: Chakras for Starters; Author: Savitri Simpson; Publisher: Anada Sangha Publications; Pages: 127; Prices: Rs.150

Both these easy-to-read books are for those who are on the spiritual path or want to embrace spirituality. In 46 chapters of two to three pages each, Shri Nimishananda dwells on ways to lead a balanced spiritual life in tune with nature. He writes on karmic debts, the spiritual code of conduct, and the inner enemies humans must guard against including lust, anger, attachment, greed, pride and jealousy. In what is by now globally accepted as truth, he underlines that meditation not only brings peace, contentment and happiness but also increases one's mental horizons. The book has simple tips on how meditation, prayers, watering plants and feeding birds and animals help us connect with divine energy. He insists that just 20 minutes of daily meditation can do wonders.

Savitri Simpson demystifies the 'chakras' - which form part of our spiritual anatomy and are the vortices of energy located along the central axis of our bodies. The book offers guided mediation and exercises for each chakra. Our sages have said that when the charkas are out of balance, they become the root cause for various diseases. Understanding and awakening the charkas can result in immense benefits including calmness, will power, inner peace, self control and, above all, spiritual transformation.

(M.R. Narayan Swamy is Executive Editor of IANS. He can be reached on narayan.swamy@ians.in)

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Two little spiritual gems (Book Review)