Backyard Astronomy And Other

Phillip Ivester has had excellent success in drag racing, winning “an amazing” 164 events.  He has also built many race engines and helped others into the world of drag racing.  It’s been more than five years now when he began working with Dr. James Caserio, MD from Hendersonville.

Dr C. as he’s known by had been racing for years earlier, and now no one can drive his 1350 horsepower Hellcat Challenger as well as he can. His fastest time has been 6.00 seconds at 120 miles per hour in only 1/8 mile, or 660 feet. The car with driver and fuel weighs in at a very heavy, 4650 pounds! With this amount of horsepower and weight, breakage of critical parts have and are bound to happen on occasion.

It should be noted that Dr. Caserio has “most likely” saved the lives of at least two Pro Motorcyclist, at Shady Side Drag Strip. This drag strip is located only a few miles south of Boiling Springs, North Carolina.

Back to the motorcyclists crashes:

Dr. C. knew exactly how to best treat the traumatic injuries sustained by the crashes at well over 100 MPH. His many years as a doctor and emergency room physician, served him well for these two horrific and critical injuries. And this was on site at the drag strip, providing life saving treatment on the ground…not in an emergency room!

Following photo: This is not just a Hellcat, but a (Demonized Hellcat) which indicates the car has received  performance modifications, and now has well over 1,140 horsepower (at the rear wheels). The engine has 1,350 HP!    

Below photo:  Whipple Supercharger….not your standard supercharger!   

Thursday night, March 31st 2022 at Shady Side Dragway in Boiling Springs, North Carolina:

Dr. C. ran his fastest E.T. (elapsed time) and miles per hour with at an incredible 6.00 flat, at 120 in 1/8 mile or only 660 feet. Again, keep in mind, this car weights over 4,600 pounds with driver and fuel.

Dr. C and Phillip work together to insure that the Hellcat is always ready to race…  

Phillip Ivester

Below: Dr. C in his life as a doctor of internal medicine, or his day job and sometimes night job.

Dr. C and his Hellcat with Phillip and both of his race cars.

Heating up the rear tires for better traction…

September 2023:

My west coast granddaughter, Zoe with her 76mm Orion Telescope.  

 

My son, Chad, daughter-in-law, Tina, and grandkids.  Zoe is below, visiting a beauty Salon. 

Zoe and her Dad in California after a bit of face painting. 

East Coast grandkids:  L-R:  Anna-Grace, John-Winston, Isaac, and Elisha…

My wife Debbie, with a 1997 Orion/Vixen 102mm refractor, which allowed me to  see Sirius B 

This is one of my favorite pictures from 2011.  Zoe and I were at the Red Rock Canyon visitors center, just outside of Las Vegas. 

“A moment in time” when I was able to have all of my grandkids together in South Carolina.  The vintage 60mm refractor telescope shown was a gift to the kids by a good friend.  

My two sons, Roger Chadwick (L) and Bradley Jason.  I’m really fortunate to have sons like these guys.  It’s difficult for them to get together as Chad lives on the East Coast and Brad on the West Coast.  A very special photo to me…

Hey…this is me, working on an astronomy article at the coffee shop on a cold day with light snow.     

Anna-Grace…aggravating one of her brothers, John-Winston.

Our Dachshund, Nova Sophia.

The telescope to the right is my first serious telescope which I purchased in March of 1977, an Edmund Scientific 4.25-inch f/10 reflector.  

Realizing the need for more aperture, I purchased a 6-inch Criterion RV-6 a year or so later.  My oldest son standing beside both telescopes, in 1978 and 1979 respectively…  

Granddaughter in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

A memorable meeting with John Dobson: 

 

 

 

Emission nebula, NGC 281, located in Cassiopeia is an early to late fall object that you don’t want to miss.  It can be glimpsed through an 8 x 50 finder, however, an 8-inch with an O-III filter is required to see the unique shape.  When you see this nebula for the first time…you’ll know why it’s called the “Pacman Nebula.”  

Click on the Orion Telescope and Binoculars link below for the full article.  

http://www.telescope.com/October-Deep-Sky-Challenge-NGC-281-The-Pacman-Nebula/p/103501.uts

Pencil sketch using a No. 2 pencil and a blank 5 x 8 notecard

Image by Dr. James Dire using an Orion 190 mm Maksutov-Newtonian Telescope.

To read what others say about this most interesting object, click on the Las Vegas Astronomical Society link:

NOVEMBER 2011 OBSERVERS CHALLENGE – NGC-281

 

Yesterday, October 26th 2012, good friends, Mike Ribadeneyra (L) myself (C) and Mike Keeley (R) rode from Boiling Springs, (NC) to Columbus, North Carolina to climb Skyuka Mountain.  

My wife, Debbie took good care of us by being our support, driving the van, and picking us up at the top.  The total ride was 50 miles, however, the final four miles, climbing up Skyuka Mountain was really tough.  

This mountain presented us with some beautiful sights, including colorful leaves floating down from the trees, waterfalls, and an incredible panoramic view of distant communities from the summit.

Veteran Tour de France rider, George Hincapie would be having his 2012 Gran Fondo ride with over 1000 riders the following day (Saturday October 27th 2012) and would also be riding up Skyuka Mountain.

 Signs had already been posted along the way up the mountain, including that famous KOM (King of the mountain) sign at the summit.   

Hincapie rode along side of Lance Armstrong in all of his seven Tour de France wins.  

Former Tour de France winner, Cadel Evans would be riding in the Gran Fondo, as well as many other riders of the BMC Team. 

It was well worth all the pain of climbing Skyuka Mountain to be able to enjoy pizza at “The Brick Pizzeria” in downtown Columbus.   

Debbie volunteered to be our support and was essential to the success of the day.  It was a fun day for sure…. 

 

    

Roger Ivester

Budding new amateur astronomer’s?  

Grandkids:  They don’t get to be with each other very often. It was wonderful to just watch them interact, talk and have fun.  

It was truly a “moment in time” that I will not soon forget… 

My two sons:  Rev. Roger Chadwick (Chad) South Carolina is on the left, and Bradley Jason (Brad) from Nevada.  

Anna-Grace on the left with her cousin Zoe.  This picture makes me smile and I was indeed a happy PawPaw (as they call me) on this memorable day.  

When we all sat down to eat lunch, Zoe said “this is the best day of my life.”  I must agree with Zoe… it was the best day of my life also.   

Roger Ivester

     Have you ever heard of the Virgo Diamond?  No…I’m not talking about the large group of stars, comprised of Cor Caroli, Denobola, Spica, and Arcturus, also called the Virgo Diamond.  

I’m talking about a basically unknown and very tiny asterism in Virgo which makes a beautiful diamond shape, comprised of five faint stars.  If conditions are not good this asterism can be difficult, especially the faint companion of the western-most star.   

     When I first read about the Virgo Diamond back in 1993, I became immediately interested, and could hardly wait to see it for myself.   The Virgo Diamond seems to be as unknown today (2024) as it was back in 1993.  I still know of only a very few amateurs who have observed this most interesting asterism.

     If you’re interested in learning more about this fascinating object, please continue reading, and you too might want to test your observing skills in an attempt to see all five stars of the “Virgo Diamond.”  

Virgo Diamond: In the December 1, 1991 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , Noah Brosch (Tel Aviv University, Israel) discusses his investigation of a newly discovered asterism in Virgo.  Five stars all appearing brighter than 13th magnitude, comprise a diamond shaped area with sides only 42 arc seconds long.  The probability is small that five stars with similar brightness could be so closely aligned by chance, and Brosch suggests that the stars of the diamond are physically associated.  The diamond is located at:  RA: 12:32.8   Dec: -0.7

Direct Source:  Sky and Telescope Magazine, May 1993, page 110

     My first observation of the Virgo Diamond came on the night of April 14th 1993.  I was using a 10-inch f/4.5 reflector at 190x which presented a faint grouping of four stars.  I was unable to see the fifth star.  The stars range in brightness from 10.9 to 13.7 in magnitude.  Please don’t underestimate this very faint asterism.  If conditions are not good, even the four primary stars can be difficult.  

     Since that night in 1993, I have observed this object many times, however, always seeing only the four primary stars.  However, this changed on the night of April 12th 2012.  The conditions were excellent, and using a 10-inch reflector, I saw the elusive fifth star at a magnification of 266x.  I could not hold the fifth companion star constantly, and averted vision was required.  Exciting to say the least….after all of my attempts over the years to see the fifth star.  

     It should be noted that excellent seeing and high magnification are essential for observing all components of the Virgo Diamond.  

The northern most star is TYC 4948-53-1 (Magnitude 10.9) The brightest and easiest of the diamond.  (RA  12h33m18.96s   Dec.  -00.38m32.3s)  

The western star (the double) is magnitude 12.1

The southern star is magnitude 13.7

The eastern star is magnitude 13.5

Tom English of North Carolina, using a 16-inch SCT described a fabulous view of all five stars using 194x and 387x.

Fred Rayworth of Las Vegas could see the fifth star using a 16-inch Reflector at 130x, but could not hold the faint companion constantly, even from the desert southwest.  

Sue French of New York could see the faint companion using both a 130-mm apochromatic  refractor and a 10-inch reflector.  

Jaakko Saloranta of Finland, using an 8-inch reflector, under less than ideal conditions managed to see the elusive fifth star, despite a focuser that kept freezing up under extreme cold conditions.

The following is a pencil sketch from that special night of April 12th 2012, using only a No. 2 pencil on a blank 5 x 8 note card.  The color was inverted using a scanner.