Last of the trip photos.
Friday night I was able to drop by Starizona, a wonderful telescope shop. Dean the owner is also the maker of the Hyperstar system (which I use), the microtouch focuser (which I use) and the Hyperion telescope line (which I want).
Most weekends Dean keeps the store open and has star parties right in the parking lot.
You can see the traffic whizzing by on the street about 10 yards away.
Yet, you can still take images like this 20 second, hand held shot with my Canon EOS M with a 3.5mm focal length.
A little processing (very little on the jpg only) and it doesn’t turn out half bad. Editing the RAW image would have been better, but hey, I gotta work sometime.
They have a projector and screen set up for people new to astronomy to get a better look at what they see through the telescopes.
A budding young astronomer reading away. She was NOT happy when Mom made her go home.
After coming back from Kitt Peak, we stopped by the Gem and Mineral show that was being held ALL over Tucson. There was like 36 venues to choose from. I went to the main one at the civic center in downtown Tucson. The place was well lit (or I smudged the lens on my cell phone). An artist who made fantasy and crystals meld into something beautiful.
Chewie, the dino fossil won first prize for best display in his category.
Some VERY cool florescent rocks and minerals under black light.
A very expensive ($18,000) Amethyst back lit table, one of many impressive pieces from this company.
Gorgeous polished petrified wood table tops for sale as a reasonable $800-1,500 apiece.
One of my favorite artist who takes ironwood and makes these amazing works. The vase in front was $10,000.
Big assed geode (crystal egg not included).
One of my other favorites were these Australian sand sculptures. The sand flows through a barrier of air to make these one of a king images. It is like a colorful etch-a-sketch.
Really too many images to show, but I didn’t even get to see the crown jewels on display from the Smithsonian (the crowd was tremendous). All in all I estimate that there was between 2-3 billion dollars worth of art, semi-precious and precious stones on display in this one location. I haven’t gone rock hounding since my youth, but I found out that Harbor Freight sells a rock tumbling kit. I may just have to get in contact with my High School friend Mark (a geology major) and see about rounding up some rocks…..
– Ex astris, scientia –
I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California and I am a Rising Star as rated by Super Lawyers Magazine. As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +
Norman