- My Gold Prospecting and Mining Pages (mdpub.com)
One of my many hobbies is recreational gold prospecting and mining. I’ve been gold panning, metal detecting and sluicing on my vacations for many years. It’s a lot of fun. It’s great exercise. I get to do it in really scenic locations, outside in the fresh air and sunshine. I have even found some gold. This page links to accounts of my various adventures in pursuit of the shiny yellow stuff. More will be added in the future.
- Messier 12 (Wikipedia)
Messier 12 or M 12 (also designated NGC 6218) is a globular cluster in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It was discovered by the French astronomer Charles Messier on May 30, 1764, who described it as a “nebula without stars”. In dark conditions this cluster can be faintly seen with a pair of binoculars. Resolving the stellar components requires a telescope with an aperture of 8 in (20 cm) or greater. In a 10 in (25 cm) scope, the granular core shows a diameter of 3′ (arcminutes) surrounded by a 10′ halo of stars.
