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Note -- you have reached the original astrophotographs.com website. Thanks very much for visiting. Logo contact information has been updated (i.e. we moved to Taos, NM) as below: Willis Greiner You may also want to visit Willis' new astronomy site at: taosastronomer.com/ Welcome to
"Under the Night Sky", Willis Greiner's astrophotographs.com "Under the Night Sky" 5th edition/Supplement
Hello! Welcome to the 5th edition/Supplement of astrophotographs.com newsletter! The purpose of this missive is threefold -- first of all, thanks to all of you that responded to my last newsletter; really, I very much enjoy your comments and input. Your astrophotograph will be forthcoming, sometime after July 1. Secondly, this will be the last newsletter before Cheryl and I travel to Zimbabwe to observe the Total Solar Eclipse on June 21. The track of totality makes landfall on the West coast of Angola (a country sadly rife with revolution and despair) and moves inland through Zambia (where the Sky and Telescope Magazine tour will be viewing), through Northern Zimbabwe (where we'll be -- with Astronomy Magazine -- near the village of Rushinga, in the Northeast corner of the country) and finally through recent-revolution-impaired Mozambique and out into the Indian Ocean. Zimbabwe was once the example of African "democracy," (although President Robert Mugabe is an avowed Marxist!) but unfortunately lately had land-use and rights issues which threaten to change the once net-food-export country into a much poorer and less free nation. No matter; we're going and plan to have a great time! (I'm sure there may be some time to
photograph the many fabulous wild game species; for additional commentary on this I would wholeheartedly recommend Peter Beard's ground breaking work entitled The End of the Game. I'm sure it is available at a larger bookstore. His photos of elephants with their faces (not heads, just faces -- just horrendous!) literally cut off (for the ivory) has had a profound effect on me. I'm sure I'll pontificate here (in the newsletter) on our "expedition" after we return early in July. The third reason for the newsletter update is to announce that the black and white hand-painted photography that Cheryl and I create (Photofantasia) has been chosen to be exhibited in Barbara Tampieri's wonderful international online gallery, BTDesign Art Gallery. I'll link to it below, and have included a type of greeting card for your perusal. Dark skies, Willis [By the way, note that a typical AC-powered clock drive on an old telescope like mine will not work in the Southern Hemisphere. It will turn the wrong way! The newer telescopes with DC motors will work because you can change the leads on these motors, thereby creating reverse spin. I guess I don't need the clock drive anyway!] Here are some links associated with the above rave: http://www.starrynight.com/ is the web site of the Starry Night series of planetarium software. These programs mimic the sky and Earth and can be set for anywhere on the Earth (and other planets!) at any time in history. This is how I have been able to note the exact time, location of the Sun and Moon and positions of the planets during the upcoming African eclipse. I remember as a child how amazed I was while visiting the Fels Planetarium in Philadelphia when the operator could bring the visitors back or ahead in time and location and view the skies from then and there. Now, of course, this can be done from the comfort of home. http://www.peterbeard.com/ is a web site featuring some of the work of photographer Peter Beard. He's the man who captured the evocative images of faceless elephants in Kenya and present-day Tanzania. His life history is fascinating as well. These photographs are certainly worth the visit. http://barbaratampieri.com/ is Barbara Tampieri's web site featuring fine art galleries, outstanding movie and music web site links, Barbara's excellent graphic and fine art and the widely-acclaimed fine art of Giuseppe Tampieri. http://www.barbaratampieri.com/permanent21.html is the BTDesign Art Gallery internet location of our Photofantasia exhibit, now showing through the month of June. Give it a look and perhaps link to the main site below. http://www.photofantasia.com/ is the web address of the black and white hand-painted fine art photography of Willis Greiner and Cheryl Price.
Willis Greiner's astrophotographs.com "Under the Night Sky" 5th edition Hello! Welcome to the 5th edition of astrophotographs.com newsletter! Forgive me for such a long absence. Hopefully all of you receiving this newsletter still wish to; if not let me know per the comments and instructions on the bottom of this missive. Also, again because of a lack of diligence and detail, it is likely that some of you that wish a free (yet modest) example of my astrophotography have not received same; if so let this wish be known per the below noted instructions. Recently while surfing through the television offerings I had the opportunity to stop on the (now much more often than) yearly beg-a-thon on public television, this time the national feed. A familiar face was the "guest;" that of the widow of planetary astronomer, author and educator Dr. Carl Sagan -- Ann Druyan -- a talent in her own right. Ms. Druyan has remastered the seminal "Cosmos" television series, and has added a brief personal comment and Dr. Sagan's "Cosmos Updates" (often underlining new discoveries that Sagan actually contemplated) recorded a full 10 years after the initial production in the early 1980's. Dr. Carl Sagan is one of my heroes; the other main individual that comes to mind is Jacques Cousteau. Because of this and the impact that Sagan's expansive and open mind has had on me (and certainly others!) my wife and I sat down and again watched in succession every episode. What a wonderful, and in my opinion uplifting, experience. I'll link to the Carl Sagan - "Cosmos" page and a few other significant sites at the end of this diatribe. Dr. Sagan starts with the episode "The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean" in which he essentially reviews that humankind at this moment of time is at the edge of a great experience, one that will certainly lead us closer to the greatest question of all -- who are we and from whence did we come?
This theme -- along with the ever-sobering reminder of our recent ability to alter and even destroy ourselves and our living planet -- is consistent throughout the 13-part journey. (Which, by the way, Dr. Sagan labels as the subtitle of the series, "A Personal Journey.") Dr. Sagan moves through the gathering of ancient knowledge in the Great Library at Alexandria, the destruction of same, the Dark Ages, the rebirth of creativity and quest for knowledge, the beginnings of technology, the influence of religion and mysticism, the impact of visual observation and thought, the importance of the scientific method and inherent skepticism, the innate human trait for exploration, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (see link below) and finally to the great discoveries and especially the important responsibilities of today. Dr. Sagan was so much more than a scientist; he was the quintessential Renaissance man. He points out with absolute clarity that it is not enough to just learn and think, but also to share, communicate and be a citizen of Earth. After all, the Library at Alexandria, where essentially all of the knowledge of the ancient world was stored and studied, where many of the great truths were originally contemplated -- this place was burned to the ground, all knowledge lost for more than 14 centuries -- not by mistake, but because of intellectual elitism. The "regular folk" were slaves, and were obviously rather uninspired by all this great knowledge unshared.
Dr. Sagan makes a powerful argument for the fact that we are all one, citizens not of countries but of the pale blue dot named Earth. As such, shall we be beholden to the uninspired leaders of made-up countries, or are we all now one, with the same passions and responsibilities?
Shall we allow these petty, irresponsible leaders deride us on our quest for the stars and other worlds, for the greater truths, or shall WE be "Who Speaks for Earth?," the title of this last episode? Dr. Sagan argues that although there certainly may be others, the fact remains that as far as we know WE are the legacy of 15 billion years of evolution (treated as FACT by Dr. Sagan, also argued absolutely convincingly) -- as such then, we certainly are the responsible parties. (Who else were you expecting?) Let's check our corrupt, egomaniacal leaders at the door and enter the "sea" from the "Shores of the Cosmic Ocean." We are all (as the "Outer Limits" control voice once said) fortunate to be participating in a great adventure. This is powerful stuff! I implore you to obtain this series (many libraries rent it in video or DVD) and watch. It was uplifting to me to view it again, with the passionate and powerful Dr. Sagan leading us from the "Shores of the Cosmic Ocean" and beyond to the "Edge of Forever." Dark skies, Willis [If you wish to continue receiving this newsletter and if you (especially) want to receive an example of my astrophotography, please let me know by simply replying to this e-mail and articulating your wish. It will probably be early July before the receipt of the astrophoto, as my wife and I will be traveling to Zimbabwe to observe the Total Solar Eclipse on June 21 (not visible in America) with Astronomy Magazine. I'm hoping also that one of our local newspapers here in Denver might be interested in a sort of "missives from the edge" set of articles perhaps with photos sent electronically!] Here are some links associated with the above rave: http://www.carlsagan.com is the web address of Dr. Sagan, Ms. Druyan and the "Cosmos" series. I would again recommend either purchasing or renting this series. http://www.setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu is the link to SETI@home, where you can download a small program which serves as a screen saver while actually analyzing sound data (for potential artificially produced signals, like we might send out!) from the great radio observatories of the world, as Arecibo in Puerto Rico or the Very Large Array in New Mexico. This program will not interfere with any of you running programs; it runs totally in the background when you're not computing. (Also, it looks great!) http://www.astrophotographs.com/exhibit.asp is a link to a short story I once wrote involving space travelers encountering our once-alive planet. Although crude by comparison, it has a chilling resemblance to Dr. Sagan's childhood recurring nightmare.
All images and narratives copyright Willis Greiner, all rights reserved.
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