New Year Resolutions

Every year, as the old year passes to the new, we are given an opportunity to reflect on our achievements of the old year and think about our goals for the new. We do this in the business world, with our personal lives and so why not with our hobbies?

First, let me reflect on 2010 a bit. 2010 was a renewal year for me and this hobby. The enabler for this renewal was the discovery a new dark site. Prior to 2010, most of my observations were done from my backyard. While this was extremely convenient, the recent influx of a couple of car dealerships and some lighted soccer fields into the area had made observing from my backyard a less than desirable activity. The new dark site is about a fifteen minute drive and gives great views to the East, South and West. The North is still washed out by the light dome of Houston, but it is tolerable.

2010 brought new vigor to my variable star observing program. I logged over 100 entries to the AAVSO data base. This was the first time that I achieved the "century" mark.

I attended two major star parties in 2010, the Texas Star Party and the Eldorado Star Party. The latter afforded me the chance the use my new Z10 Zhumell scope under ideal conditions. This is a wonderful instrument as it affords me the opportunity to see some really deep sky objects, as well as see more of my variables down to their minimums.

So now that brings me to 2011. As I look forward to this year, I think about some possible goals. Setting goals always has the effect of motivating me and provides me the chance to monitor my progress. (I guess my engineering degree permeates just about all aspects of my life!) So what do I want to achieve in this hobby over the next twelve months? Well, certainly at the top of the list would be the continued observation of my program variables. As I am becoming more efficient at observing these variables, it allows me to add more to my program. So, I think that adding a few more variables to my program would be in order, while still aiming for a 100+ observations over the year. I currently have 30 stars in my program. I think adding another 10 stars over the year would be achievable....but now to decide which ones!

A second priority would be to make more progress on the Herschel 400 list. I am currently about 17% complete on this list. I think that I could observe maybe another 100 objects on this list, and so, I am aiming for 42% complete by end of this new year. I would also like to do more sketching of these objects as well. Sketching is a wonderful way to observe as it forces you to take time and really observe the object in the eyepiece. As you spend more time at the eyepiece, more details come out and sketch provides you with a really nice record of these details.

And lastly, I want to do more sharing of my hobby through conduits such as this blog and my web site, rwAstronomy.com. This is a great cloudy night activity and brings me into contact with other amateurs.

So there you have it, my accomplishments for last year and my goals for this year. All that I need now is clear skies and spare time. Hopefully, these two variables will "align" for me in 2011.

Happy New Year and Clear Skies for 2011!

rw