Hit the Sun in early afternoon, two little spots well out at ten o'clock. Great forecast, clear, light wind, maybe ten degrees warmer than last. Rolled a wee bit before 17:00 to catch the full Sun still above the horizon - set time 17:12. Got it, full clear, red - but really down in the trees. And the trees were majorly swimming in the thermal turbulence.
Got better organized, started scanning for Mercury way too early. I think it was 15:38 when I finally scored. Six day old Moon was really high but I was able to get a reasonably fast lock for a reasonably comfortable and spectacular view.
A curious Olga pulled into the drive - interrupting a bird seed run. I gave her a briefing on what I was doing, she continued her mission but vowed to return soon.
No clouds but the clarity was a little down from previous - some very faint high haze. Small herd of Geese grazing silently in the usual area. Picked up Mercury with the bino but left the scope on the Moon 'cause the high target's a bitch to hit and I wanted Olga to get a shot if/when she returned. Picked up a single Eagle in the Eagle Tree.
Did laser target practice on the treeline at the edge of the left field east of the Geese. And they evacuated very shortly thereafter. MAYBE that spooked them but another flock - distant to the west - went airborne at about the same time and I think everybody was just relocating to overnight quarters. But I'll assume otherwise in the future.
Olga returned, got suitably blown away by my Moon, I got her the Eagle, shifted to Mercury - which by that point was either in or close to unaided mode. She knew her stuff pretty well but didn't have any glass and wanted a rundown.
And she's an ISS freak and kept watching the clock 'cause it was due for a flyover. I'd scored it a few times but probably not since about a decade and a half ago.
Stats for the NASA certified coordinates four miles NW of my Pastures station:
2021/01/19 18:04 EST
- 5:00 - duration
- 50° - max height
- 13° above SSW - appears
- 18° above ENE - disappears
She called it coming in and it was initially low and slow enough that I was able to get a lock with the scope. But it was also so fast that I couldn't stay on it steady and went to the stabilized glasses. Totally screaming as it started coming over high - huge, white, blazing.
I remember being able to get solar panels and a docked Shuttle with my unstabilized 7x42's once in the distant past but it was so blindingly white and fast this time that I could get almost nothing in the way of recognizable shape. (Should've tried it with the solar filter.) Or maybe/probably I'd done better on that score 'cause I'd had it directly overhead and this time its close point was considerably off to the NE.
Stayed on it until it rather abruptly dimmed out to nothingness while still well above the horizon. Initially figured that too much atmosphere had gotten in the way but soon realized that I'd just watched it disappear into our planet's shadow.
Nice timing, Olga. May well have missed it entirely had I been out there alone.
She wasn't dressed very well for the occasion, started freezing, had to bail. I told her how to find Kite Strings and my scope article.
I thought I might be able to bag Mars and Uranus - currently trailing a fair bit behind the Moon - but lost all enthusiasm looking at the angle with which I'd have to deal. (Mars was blazing unaided.) Planned on going back out some hours later with Mars/Uranus at a way more doable elevation.
Turned around and repositioned a little to do Orion tree free. Got onto my pick as the Nebula pretty quickly and am now confident in the call.
Quickly packed up, loaded, bailed - a bit chilled but not holding a candle to the previous mission.
Back home I kept an eye on the Moon to gauge a comfortable shot at Mars/Uranus. At 21:45... Oops, clouds encroaching from the SW. Set up on the back deck and scored Mars through the trees and just free of the clouding but NOTHING close around it. Didn't make sense if my Sky Walk 2 is giving me a reasonable facsimile. I'm guessing real world Uranus must be way fainter. May hafta wait until opposition in early November.
birds
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Tad Eareckson
- Posts: 9161
- Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC
Re: birds
Sun, early afternoon, now three little spots out at ten o'clock.
Evening cold, light wind, excellent sky. Planned to hit Pastures late, score Mercury, bail. Wanted to maintain continuity and get in the practice. Scope up by 17:43, had Mercury at 17:48. No Eagles or close in grazing or parked Geese. Plenty of the latter airborne out just a bit though.
I don't think I spooked my herd. I think they have a routine of grazing there late and bailing for a central overnight location when it gets real late.
OK let's do the Moon - First Quarter - as long as we're here. And from the Moon it was pretty easy to get to Mars - a bit downwind and high above, red, blazing. And now that we have Mars... Uranus is supposed to be somewhere in this ballpark.
Start scanning around and quickly pick up on a promising looking spot - less than a zoomed out scope field below. Looks blue and likely a disk. Check the position against what the iPhone is saying... GOT IT! And on the evening of one of the best days in recent US - hell, world - history.
Played around with it and its neighbors awhile, took a final shot at Mercury, capped at about 18:10. Deadly cold.
Back home after I'd gotten my hands thawed a bit I started wondering if Uranus would be doable with the 10x42's and ventured out on the back deck. Yeah but with little to spare. In-The-Sky.org says it was unknown prior to the telescope but can be doable unaided under ideal conditions.
Evening cold, light wind, excellent sky. Planned to hit Pastures late, score Mercury, bail. Wanted to maintain continuity and get in the practice. Scope up by 17:43, had Mercury at 17:48. No Eagles or close in grazing or parked Geese. Plenty of the latter airborne out just a bit though.
I don't think I spooked my herd. I think they have a routine of grazing there late and bailing for a central overnight location when it gets real late.
OK let's do the Moon - First Quarter - as long as we're here. And from the Moon it was pretty easy to get to Mars - a bit downwind and high above, red, blazing. And now that we have Mars... Uranus is supposed to be somewhere in this ballpark.
Start scanning around and quickly pick up on a promising looking spot - less than a zoomed out scope field below. Looks blue and likely a disk. Check the position against what the iPhone is saying... GOT IT! And on the evening of one of the best days in recent US - hell, world - history.
Played around with it and its neighbors awhile, took a final shot at Mercury, capped at about 18:10. Deadly cold.
Back home after I'd gotten my hands thawed a bit I started wondering if Uranus would be doable with the 10x42's and ventured out on the back deck. Yeah but with little to spare. In-The-Sky.org says it was unknown prior to the telescope but can be doable unaided under ideal conditions.
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Tad Eareckson
- Posts: 9161
- Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC
Re: birds
Clear, reasonably warm. Four little sunspots at nine o'clock position. Got set up by about 17:45 and scored both Eagles and Mercury almost immediately. Lotsa airborne Geese, none parked. Moon up at a near impossible elevation, got it plus Mars, Uranus, a satellite.
Kept an eye on the clock for the ISS which was forecast for a four minute appearance starting at 18:07 and running W-NE. Hadn't gotten my head properly wrapped around the data and was instinctively checking to the South - the direction of my previous sighting. And by the time my brain kicked in I'd missed the beginning of the approach.
I'd had it in my head since the beginning of time that shots at the ISS from any given location only came along something on the order of once every few weeks but I see:
http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/
Spot The Station | NASA
telling me that you get a shot damn near every evening and frequently two shots a bit over an hour and a half apart. Wow. (No current morning listings however. I know that means flying from dark into light - a continuously degrading situation - but is that a total deal breaker?)
The station bounces between 51.6 degree North and South latitudes so anywhere between them plus a bit o' change you're gonna get frequent shots.
Cool gif from the Wikipedia article:
Completes an orbit in about 93 minutes - fifteen and half per day.
Spectacular view again. Watched it blaze dim, turn red, diminish, vanish in the NE while the trees were starting to eat it.
Went into Neptune mode. Using the iPhone I thought I had it - complete with disk - following Mercury. But I was really queasy 'cause it had been way too easy. It should've been way crappier than Uranus and was quite the opposite. And the set time was 21:07 and this was gonna bite the dust not long after Mercury.
Capped around 18:30. Didn't get chilled on this one but was using the iPhone a lot and thus had a lot of gloves-off time and my hands got moderately trashed.
Back home I started really doing my homework on Neptune... Yeah, no fuckin' way.
http://www.space.com/38592-uranus-neptune-autumn-skywatching-2017.html
Autumn Skywatching Treat: See Uranus and Neptune in the Night Sky | Space
Neptune is the only planet that absolutely cannot be detected under any conditions unaided. I'll keep trying for it but I might need it close to something else that I can use as a reference. And I can use all the brightness I can get and opposition will be 2021/09/14.
Kept an eye on the clock for the ISS which was forecast for a four minute appearance starting at 18:07 and running W-NE. Hadn't gotten my head properly wrapped around the data and was instinctively checking to the South - the direction of my previous sighting. And by the time my brain kicked in I'd missed the beginning of the approach.
I'd had it in my head since the beginning of time that shots at the ISS from any given location only came along something on the order of once every few weeks but I see:
http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/
Spot The Station | NASA
telling me that you get a shot damn near every evening and frequently two shots a bit over an hour and a half apart. Wow. (No current morning listings however. I know that means flying from dark into light - a continuously degrading situation - but is that a total deal breaker?)
The station bounces between 51.6 degree North and South latitudes so anywhere between them plus a bit o' change you're gonna get frequent shots.
Cool gif from the Wikipedia article:
Completes an orbit in about 93 minutes - fifteen and half per day.
Spectacular view again. Watched it blaze dim, turn red, diminish, vanish in the NE while the trees were starting to eat it.
Went into Neptune mode. Using the iPhone I thought I had it - complete with disk - following Mercury. But I was really queasy 'cause it had been way too easy. It should've been way crappier than Uranus and was quite the opposite. And the set time was 21:07 and this was gonna bite the dust not long after Mercury.
Capped around 18:30. Didn't get chilled on this one but was using the iPhone a lot and thus had a lot of gloves-off time and my hands got moderately trashed.
Back home I started really doing my homework on Neptune... Yeah, no fuckin' way.
http://www.space.com/38592-uranus-neptune-autumn-skywatching-2017.html
Autumn Skywatching Treat: See Uranus and Neptune in the Night Sky | Space
I can do 70 with my 95 and the quality is nothing to write home about. This had to be a star and I don't know how I thinking I might have been getting a disk. Maybe the haze was producing something of an effect.With a telescope, trying to resolve Neptune into a disk will be more difficult for observers to do than it will be with Uranus. You're going to need at least an 8-inch telescope with a magnification of no less than 200x, just to turn Neptune into a tiny blue dot of light.
Neptune is the only planet that absolutely cannot be detected under any conditions unaided. I'll keep trying for it but I might need it close to something else that I can use as a reference. And I can use all the brightness I can get and opposition will be 2021/09/14.
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Tad Eareckson
- Posts: 9161
- Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC
Re: birds
Wanted to do a quick run, was set up by about 17:50, no Eagles, Mercury was waiting for me. Picked up my phony Neptune right away and gave it a thorough looking over. Switched to vertical mode for the Moon, Mars, Uranus.
Thought I'd try a star in the darker sky behind me. Betelgeuse. Wow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse
Betelgeuse
Capped about 18:20.
Determined via Sky Walk 2 that my phony Neptune was Lambda Aquarii / Hydor - an impressive red giant about 390 light years out.
Thought I'd try a star in the darker sky behind me. Betelgeuse. Wow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse
Betelgeuse
Prior to this I'd thought that no stars beyond the Sun were resolvable as anything beyond points using our Earth based toys. Not anymore. Sun, R Doradus, Betelgeuse... Three largest appearing from where we're sitting.Classified as a red supergiant of spectral type M1-2, Betelgeuse is one of the largest stars visible to the naked eye. If it were at the center of our Solar System, its surface would lie beyond the asteroid belt and it would engulf the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and possibly Jupiter.
Capped about 18:20.
Determined via Sky Walk 2 that my phony Neptune was Lambda Aquarii / Hydor - an impressive red giant about 390 light years out.
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Tad Eareckson
- Posts: 9161
- Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC
Re: birds
A couple small diminishing spots close to center.
Was strongly tempted to not do the drill last evening but:
- the sky was excellent
- the next night (this one) probably and the one after definitely won't be doable
- there was gonna be a decent four minute shot at the ISS
Grabbed the iPhone. Hadn't been plugged in so it was a paperweight and stayed home.
Got on site at 17:50. Good news... The sky may have been the best to date. Bad news... One of the reasons the sky may have been the best to date was that the temperature was the most brutal to date. If there had been any air movement I wouldn't be writing this.
Mercury with the glasses, no Hydor, no Eagles, blazing moon overhead, scope set, retreated to car and did what I could killing time prior to 18:09 ISS appearance to the WNW.
Back out into the deep freeze with about a minute and a half to spare. Had the direction right but was probably paying too much attention to the horizon and too little above to get the requisite 16 degrees and thus missed the start of the show again. If I hadn't I think I'd have first caught it maybe directly above Chicago.
Yeah, that's it. Not as dazzling as the first time but still pretty impressive. Maxed out at 22 degrees when it was probably over the middle of Lake Huron, lost it in the trees as it was about to burn out to the NNE at 10 degrees.
Hydor now visible, did Mercury and the former in the scope, capped and cracked, home at 18:20. Took about an hour to thaw.
Mercury was at its "greatest elongation (apparent distance from the Sun from Earth perspective) east" at 2021/01/24 01:59 UTC. So I was seeing it around three hours prior to that. 2021/03/06 09:48 UTC is greatest elongation west (also greatest elongation - period) but then the planet's a morning deal.
It's now about as high in the evening sky as we get to see it. It actually gets a bit higher in the coming few days but all that nasty sunlight keeps getting in the way more and more. What the hell, it's a lot higher, brighter, more spectacular now than I previously envisioned it being able to get.
Was strongly tempted to not do the drill last evening but:
- the sky was excellent
- the next night (this one) probably and the one after definitely won't be doable
- there was gonna be a decent four minute shot at the ISS
Grabbed the iPhone. Hadn't been plugged in so it was a paperweight and stayed home.
Got on site at 17:50. Good news... The sky may have been the best to date. Bad news... One of the reasons the sky may have been the best to date was that the temperature was the most brutal to date. If there had been any air movement I wouldn't be writing this.
Mercury with the glasses, no Hydor, no Eagles, blazing moon overhead, scope set, retreated to car and did what I could killing time prior to 18:09 ISS appearance to the WNW.
Back out into the deep freeze with about a minute and a half to spare. Had the direction right but was probably paying too much attention to the horizon and too little above to get the requisite 16 degrees and thus missed the start of the show again. If I hadn't I think I'd have first caught it maybe directly above Chicago.
Yeah, that's it. Not as dazzling as the first time but still pretty impressive. Maxed out at 22 degrees when it was probably over the middle of Lake Huron, lost it in the trees as it was about to burn out to the NNE at 10 degrees.
Hydor now visible, did Mercury and the former in the scope, capped and cracked, home at 18:20. Took about an hour to thaw.
Mercury was at its "greatest elongation (apparent distance from the Sun from Earth perspective) east" at 2021/01/24 01:59 UTC. So I was seeing it around three hours prior to that. 2021/03/06 09:48 UTC is greatest elongation west (also greatest elongation - period) but then the planet's a morning deal.
It's now about as high in the evening sky as we get to see it. It actually gets a bit higher in the coming few days but all that nasty sunlight keeps getting in the way more and more. What the hell, it's a lot higher, brighter, more spectacular now than I previously envisioned it being able to get.
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Tad Eareckson
- Posts: 9161
- Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC
Re: birds
It's recently occurred to me how fortunate I am to have this Pastures station pretty precisely a mile from the driveway.
http://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50771437858_c6f97aa51c_o.png
39°02'54.00" N 076°39'05.75" W
I'm pretty sure that little V driveway apexing into the main drag in is county road/property and I can park facing NW legally and without cramping anyone's style on the edge immediately beyond the sign and set up immediately beyond the apex of the grass triangle. I'm safely way out of range of regular road traffic and have a good to excellent horizon from a bit west of south to beyond northwest, almost 180 degrees of not bad or better, reasonably doable behind me ('specially with the leaves down).
I've started looking into public safe and legal stations from which I'd be able to do morning horizons and they're astonishingly/frighteningly few and far between. Lotsa agricultural fields but they're damn near always screened off from public view by a really solid row of trees. Shopping center parking areas came to mind but then it occurred to me that they're always festooned with blazing all-night lights. Maybe the top of a multilevel parking garage would be OK but that means the Annapolis Mall which is the better part of nine miles down the road.
I've done the 39°02'30.08" N 076°39'59.33" W stretch for daytime stuff but the traffic is pretty thick and a bit scary. 3.1 driving miles out at Gambrills Post Office - 39°04'05.54" N 076°40'07.17" W - aiming out over the Maryland Corn Maze should do it comfortably.
I'm not a morning person and things won't be much fun 'cause there's close to zero possibility that I'll get any morning customers for anything but there will be events every once in a while that I'd like to bag.
Yesterday lotsa cloudiness but breaks started kicking in midafternoon. Got the Sun - spotless as best I could tell. Late in the day things were looking pretty gloomy and I was looking for an excuse to bail but:
- Mercury was scheduled to be spectacular
- there was clear air low on the western horizon and here and there elsewhere
Rolled for Pastures at about 17:20, was set up about ten minutes later. Full Moon punching through the clouds behind me, very little clearness available for Mercury in front of me. But although there wasn't a lot of wind on the surface (and the temperature wasn't bad) the sky was moving fast from NE to SW and upwind looked promising.
Lotsa airborne Geese and smaller waterfowl, no Eagles, think I heard a note from a Killdeer.
Mercury had passed through its "greatest eastern elongation" (greatest apparent distance from the Sun to the East from Earth perspective) on 2021/01/24 with 18.6 degrees and was due to hit its high point. Also two days shy of perihelion - closest (actual) point in its orbit to the Sun - so bright as hell.
There was a high dense cloud which robbed me of earliest possible contact but I got it with the binocular at 18:02. Way up and way to the right of my regular planet path. When I first stumbled upon it 2021/01/09 it was almost down in the trees.
There was supposed to be a low short shot at the ISS to the north at 18:15 but there was also some low clouding in that direction and I scored zilch.
A little more Mercury, the Moon cleared, swung around for a blinding shot. Back to Mercury, it had started cycling colors. Wanted to bail but felt too guilty walking with my little treasure still high and gleaming. Stayed with it until it got totaled by a serious low expanse of clouding that wouldn't be going anywhere. Capped at about 18:25. Not chilled but the hands were close to wrecked as usual.
http://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50771437858_c6f97aa51c_o.png
39°02'54.00" N 076°39'05.75" W
I'm pretty sure that little V driveway apexing into the main drag in is county road/property and I can park facing NW legally and without cramping anyone's style on the edge immediately beyond the sign and set up immediately beyond the apex of the grass triangle. I'm safely way out of range of regular road traffic and have a good to excellent horizon from a bit west of south to beyond northwest, almost 180 degrees of not bad or better, reasonably doable behind me ('specially with the leaves down).
I've started looking into public safe and legal stations from which I'd be able to do morning horizons and they're astonishingly/frighteningly few and far between. Lotsa agricultural fields but they're damn near always screened off from public view by a really solid row of trees. Shopping center parking areas came to mind but then it occurred to me that they're always festooned with blazing all-night lights. Maybe the top of a multilevel parking garage would be OK but that means the Annapolis Mall which is the better part of nine miles down the road.
I've done the 39°02'30.08" N 076°39'59.33" W stretch for daytime stuff but the traffic is pretty thick and a bit scary. 3.1 driving miles out at Gambrills Post Office - 39°04'05.54" N 076°40'07.17" W - aiming out over the Maryland Corn Maze should do it comfortably.
I'm not a morning person and things won't be much fun 'cause there's close to zero possibility that I'll get any morning customers for anything but there will be events every once in a while that I'd like to bag.
Yesterday lotsa cloudiness but breaks started kicking in midafternoon. Got the Sun - spotless as best I could tell. Late in the day things were looking pretty gloomy and I was looking for an excuse to bail but:
- Mercury was scheduled to be spectacular
- there was clear air low on the western horizon and here and there elsewhere
Rolled for Pastures at about 17:20, was set up about ten minutes later. Full Moon punching through the clouds behind me, very little clearness available for Mercury in front of me. But although there wasn't a lot of wind on the surface (and the temperature wasn't bad) the sky was moving fast from NE to SW and upwind looked promising.
Lotsa airborne Geese and smaller waterfowl, no Eagles, think I heard a note from a Killdeer.
Mercury had passed through its "greatest eastern elongation" (greatest apparent distance from the Sun to the East from Earth perspective) on 2021/01/24 with 18.6 degrees and was due to hit its high point. Also two days shy of perihelion - closest (actual) point in its orbit to the Sun - so bright as hell.
There was a high dense cloud which robbed me of earliest possible contact but I got it with the binocular at 18:02. Way up and way to the right of my regular planet path. When I first stumbled upon it 2021/01/09 it was almost down in the trees.
There was supposed to be a low short shot at the ISS to the north at 18:15 but there was also some low clouding in that direction and I scored zilch.
A little more Mercury, the Moon cleared, swung around for a blinding shot. Back to Mercury, it had started cycling colors. Wanted to bail but felt too guilty walking with my little treasure still high and gleaming. Stayed with it until it got totaled by a serious low expanse of clouding that wouldn't be going anywhere. Capped at about 18:25. Not chilled but the hands were close to wrecked as usual.
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Tad Eareckson
- Posts: 9161
- Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC
Re: birds
Gawd it was cold Thursday/yesterday - thirty degrees, small craft advisory winds, clear as a bell most of the day and into the night. It was either the best sky so far or a tie for first.
Sun totally spotless.
Got a call from GrandDad/John late afternoon who wanted to know if there was anything worth seeing and whether or not I'd be going out to see it. Told him I'd give him a buzz just before rolling. That turned out to be 17:35. Got tons of airborne Geese, a Black Vulture coming over low with a very dark sky above it, Mercury at 17:52, John not long after.
Mercury was due to hit perihelion, the point in its 88 day orbit when it's closest to the Sun, at 21:08 local - 2.3 hours after local set time.
We both scored a cool bright meteor fairly high up and streaking towards Mercury.
Got him the Orion Nebula and Betelgeuse, he tuned me in to Sirius - the brightest star in Earth's sky and, out at 8.6 light years, one of our closest. It lines up pretty nicely with and aft of Orion's Belt and was low below it. Had to shoot through trees but it's a point so not a problem - if anything were to get in the way it wouldn't be in a matter of seconds.
The Moon was a few hours past full and rising but still down in the trees. I trespassed into the farm (for my first time ever) about fifty yards to see what it would take to clear it - 'cause the windchill wasn't gonna allow me to survive the wait for it to clear on its own - and about fifty yards did the trick. Relocated the scope accordingly and got a spectacular shot.
John was handling the cold better than I was but fortunately couldn't come up with any additional interesting target recommendations and was good for bagging things. I was in such bad shape that I couldn't actually bag things - just separated the scope and tripod assemblies, partially collapsed the tripod, laid stuff on the back seat and vowed to drive my mile extra carefully, got home in really bad shape, properly dealt with the gear after thawing for several hours.
Didn't do very well today. Maybe wouldn't have done very well minus the deep freeze but I'm pretty sure it didn't help. The day was cold, windy, mostly cloudy. Nailed the Sun in early afternoon through one of the occasional brief windows.
At sunset there was a narrow band of clear air on the relevant horizon and enough fast moving broken stuff above to tempt me into a quick hop. Left the scope, rolled with binocular only and the intent of just parking the car aimed SW, seeing if I could catch a gleam, got on site at maybe 17:50.
Again lotsa activity from the Geese. Small groups everywhere, a lot of them dropping steeply in my line of fire.
Scored my gleam at 18:06, sky was moving fast right to left. It was getting eaten and reemerging at a rather quick pace. Ventured out of the car for part of a cycle to eliminate the windshield. Bailed at about 18:15 when something extensive swallowed it.
It'll probably be a lot more doable tomorrow before getting wiped by a majorish snow event Sunday.
It's now swinging around to the west between us and the Sun and will be at conjunction (pretty much straight between us and the Sun) on 2021/02/08.
Sun totally spotless.
Got a call from GrandDad/John late afternoon who wanted to know if there was anything worth seeing and whether or not I'd be going out to see it. Told him I'd give him a buzz just before rolling. That turned out to be 17:35. Got tons of airborne Geese, a Black Vulture coming over low with a very dark sky above it, Mercury at 17:52, John not long after.
Mercury was due to hit perihelion, the point in its 88 day orbit when it's closest to the Sun, at 21:08 local - 2.3 hours after local set time.
We both scored a cool bright meteor fairly high up and streaking towards Mercury.
Got him the Orion Nebula and Betelgeuse, he tuned me in to Sirius - the brightest star in Earth's sky and, out at 8.6 light years, one of our closest. It lines up pretty nicely with and aft of Orion's Belt and was low below it. Had to shoot through trees but it's a point so not a problem - if anything were to get in the way it wouldn't be in a matter of seconds.
The Moon was a few hours past full and rising but still down in the trees. I trespassed into the farm (for my first time ever) about fifty yards to see what it would take to clear it - 'cause the windchill wasn't gonna allow me to survive the wait for it to clear on its own - and about fifty yards did the trick. Relocated the scope accordingly and got a spectacular shot.
John was handling the cold better than I was but fortunately couldn't come up with any additional interesting target recommendations and was good for bagging things. I was in such bad shape that I couldn't actually bag things - just separated the scope and tripod assemblies, partially collapsed the tripod, laid stuff on the back seat and vowed to drive my mile extra carefully, got home in really bad shape, properly dealt with the gear after thawing for several hours.
Didn't do very well today. Maybe wouldn't have done very well minus the deep freeze but I'm pretty sure it didn't help. The day was cold, windy, mostly cloudy. Nailed the Sun in early afternoon through one of the occasional brief windows.
At sunset there was a narrow band of clear air on the relevant horizon and enough fast moving broken stuff above to tempt me into a quick hop. Left the scope, rolled with binocular only and the intent of just parking the car aimed SW, seeing if I could catch a gleam, got on site at maybe 17:50.
Again lotsa activity from the Geese. Small groups everywhere, a lot of them dropping steeply in my line of fire.
Scored my gleam at 18:06, sky was moving fast right to left. It was getting eaten and reemerging at a rather quick pace. Ventured out of the car for part of a cycle to eliminate the windshield. Bailed at about 18:15 when something extensive swallowed it.
It'll probably be a lot more doable tomorrow before getting wiped by a majorish snow event Sunday.
It's now swinging around to the west between us and the Sun and will be at conjunction (pretty much straight between us and the Sun) on 2021/02/08.
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Tad Eareckson
- Posts: 9161
- Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC
Re: birds
Things shaping up beautifully for last evening - clear, not insanely cold, negligible wind. Got myself well prepped, set to roll, car battery couldn't quite do it. Passat diesel so it needs a lot of juice, automatic so you can't pop the clutch halfway down the near vertical driveway. SHIT.
Plan B. Maybe I could get a shot - binocular only - from the farm field - 39°02'57.31" N 076°38'35.43" W - at the top of the street. Didn't look promising.
Decided to shoot for Pastures on foot. Descended the main drag, kept scanning through the trees, cleared the neighborhood, made a decision that was probably the wrong one.
At 39°02'35.18" N 076°38'58.99" W there's an access to a huge hay field. It's not fenced, there's no gate, it's not posted. Thought I might be able to get a doable horizon quicker if I turned in. Didn't. If I'd continued the extra 0.38 miles up the road I'd have picked up another 25 feet of elevation. Maybe.
Pulled out the iPhone to check Mercury bearing and elevation and it looked pretty hopeless. (Think I may have heard a Fox bark a couple times.)
Silver lining... When I threw in the towel and turned around the eastern sky was stunning - Orion, Sirius, very low treeline/horizon. Gonna try to find out who owns it and see if I can get an official OK. Sure wouldn't be hurting anything by going in on foot during the non growing season and wouldn't want to go in with higher grass anyway.
Made it back home in not bad shape with pretty much precisely two miles burned up for the exercise. Would cost me a not too severe short duration leg cramp some hours later. (Battery's on a charger now.)
A little table illustrating what was very recently and will be going on with local Mercury chasing. Columns are:
- January and February dates
- Sunset
- Mercuryset
- Difference
30 17:25 18:44 +79
31 17:26 18:40 +74
01 17:27 18:35 +68
02 17:28 18:29 +61
03 17:29 18:22 +53
04 17:30 18:14 +44
05 17:32 18:06 +34
06 17:33 17:57 +24
07 17:34 17:47 +13
08 17:35 17:38 +03
09 17:36 17:28 -08
10 17:37 17:18 -19
We start with a generous spread, the rate of spread shrinkage accelerates, between 08 and 09 Mercury gets fried almost directly between us and the Sun, after that Mercury starts working on becoming a morning phenomenon.
Also note that the more Mercury gets between us and the Sun the less of its lit half we get to see.
It'll be interesting - weather permitting - to see how much spread we need to keep scoring. In-The-Sky.org says I lost it already between:
27 17:21 18:51 +90
28 17:22 18:50 +88
And Friday night...
29 17:23 18:47 +84
...as I reported it was very loud and very clear.
My first blunder upon Mercury (early this month):
09 17:01 17:57 +56
Snowing since last night. I probably won't be getting another shot before Wednesday. And - based upon the table - maybe not after either.
Plan B. Maybe I could get a shot - binocular only - from the farm field - 39°02'57.31" N 076°38'35.43" W - at the top of the street. Didn't look promising.
Decided to shoot for Pastures on foot. Descended the main drag, kept scanning through the trees, cleared the neighborhood, made a decision that was probably the wrong one.
At 39°02'35.18" N 076°38'58.99" W there's an access to a huge hay field. It's not fenced, there's no gate, it's not posted. Thought I might be able to get a doable horizon quicker if I turned in. Didn't. If I'd continued the extra 0.38 miles up the road I'd have picked up another 25 feet of elevation. Maybe.
Pulled out the iPhone to check Mercury bearing and elevation and it looked pretty hopeless. (Think I may have heard a Fox bark a couple times.)
Silver lining... When I threw in the towel and turned around the eastern sky was stunning - Orion, Sirius, very low treeline/horizon. Gonna try to find out who owns it and see if I can get an official OK. Sure wouldn't be hurting anything by going in on foot during the non growing season and wouldn't want to go in with higher grass anyway.
Made it back home in not bad shape with pretty much precisely two miles burned up for the exercise. Would cost me a not too severe short duration leg cramp some hours later. (Battery's on a charger now.)
A little table illustrating what was very recently and will be going on with local Mercury chasing. Columns are:
- January and February dates
- Sunset
- Mercuryset
- Difference
30 17:25 18:44 +79
31 17:26 18:40 +74
01 17:27 18:35 +68
02 17:28 18:29 +61
03 17:29 18:22 +53
04 17:30 18:14 +44
05 17:32 18:06 +34
06 17:33 17:57 +24
07 17:34 17:47 +13
08 17:35 17:38 +03
09 17:36 17:28 -08
10 17:37 17:18 -19
We start with a generous spread, the rate of spread shrinkage accelerates, between 08 and 09 Mercury gets fried almost directly between us and the Sun, after that Mercury starts working on becoming a morning phenomenon.
Also note that the more Mercury gets between us and the Sun the less of its lit half we get to see.
It'll be interesting - weather permitting - to see how much spread we need to keep scoring. In-The-Sky.org says I lost it already between:
27 17:21 18:51 +90
28 17:22 18:50 +88
And Friday night...
29 17:23 18:47 +84
...as I reported it was very loud and very clear.
My first blunder upon Mercury (early this month):
09 17:01 17:57 +56
Snowing since last night. I probably won't be getting another shot before Wednesday. And - based upon the table - maybe not after either.
-
Tad Eareckson
- Posts: 9161
- Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC
Re: birds
Sunday we got a fair dose of the East's massive snow event - no more than four inches I guess. And it must've turned to very cold rain overnight 'cause Sunday morning what was down had a substantial crust of ice.
I'd run an extension cord and connected an anemic little car battery charger. The indicator light was yellow all afternoon and into the night. Woke up at 01:30 and had green at last - probably every bit of twelve hours.
Monday was really dreary, did a bit o' shoveling and cleaning.
Tuesday morning there was a new inch and a half of fluff that was easily dealt with and by late morning the Sun went off script and actually poked through several times before things went back to really dreary. Temperature was a bit above freezing and wind was substantial and gusty.
TONS of ice had formed on tree branches and gusts would crack it loose and send it cascading down onto whatever happened to be below - seemingly die cast in the form of four inch long half pipes with previous diameters of one and a quarter and thicknesses not far shy of a half inch. Cushioned the fall of one with my left ear and the sensation was way south of pleasant. This went on all day long and the supply seemed infinite. Kinda interesting that no limbs seem to have come down anywhere within range.
Yesterday a little open Sun now and then in the morning.
Out the front door for a trip to the car, a first year Red-Shoulder came in from out back and landed on a low limb about seven feet up at the far edge of the driveway not more than fifteen feet from my point of progress. I froze. His back was to me - didn't see me / know I was there at first.
Turned his head, we made eye contact. He wasn't the least bit concerned, stayed relaxed, looked around, continued on his way after a minute or so. A neighborhood Crow - about the same size - would never have tolerated a situation like that.
Later... Thin clouds, snow if you looked carefully at the right time. Sun started really punching through in the afternoon, sky to the SW started looking very doable.
Sunset at 17:29, got on station at about 18:45, light air, about fifteen degrees warmer than previous stop on station (2021/01/29). I noticed on the way in that, while the observation area in my hay field was a lot lower than Pastures, the limiting terrain to its west was as well. May not have fared any better if I'd continued on as planned.
Started scanning (sky was dark with Geese before it was dark with Sun below the horizon) and it wasn't looking good. Sun had gone down way to the right of my gunsight road. (On the solstice it goes down at 239 degrees, road is 241.3, last evening 249.) Horizon terrain slopes up to the right. I trespassed in with the binocular about 130 yards which bought me seven feet more elevation but...
So that'll be it for Evening Mercury until late April. Kinda bummed out - and pissed off about the dead battery fiasco and the timing and duration of the rather nasty weather deal. But I guess I can't complain after all the outstanding luck with the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction.
Shifted to the darker - and cloudier - sky behind me. Two stars blasting through. Sirius I IDed but couldn't do the other 'cause I there was nothing I around to use as for reference.
At 18:13 the Killdeer I thought I'd been hearing on a couple previous occasions confirmed him/her-self but good - though audio only, what with the light being zilch despite the still full snow cover. Close in flying patterns. He's now another red flag on eBird.
I'd run an extension cord and connected an anemic little car battery charger. The indicator light was yellow all afternoon and into the night. Woke up at 01:30 and had green at last - probably every bit of twelve hours.
Monday was really dreary, did a bit o' shoveling and cleaning.
Tuesday morning there was a new inch and a half of fluff that was easily dealt with and by late morning the Sun went off script and actually poked through several times before things went back to really dreary. Temperature was a bit above freezing and wind was substantial and gusty.
TONS of ice had formed on tree branches and gusts would crack it loose and send it cascading down onto whatever happened to be below - seemingly die cast in the form of four inch long half pipes with previous diameters of one and a quarter and thicknesses not far shy of a half inch. Cushioned the fall of one with my left ear and the sensation was way south of pleasant. This went on all day long and the supply seemed infinite. Kinda interesting that no limbs seem to have come down anywhere within range.
Yesterday a little open Sun now and then in the morning.
Out the front door for a trip to the car, a first year Red-Shoulder came in from out back and landed on a low limb about seven feet up at the far edge of the driveway not more than fifteen feet from my point of progress. I froze. His back was to me - didn't see me / know I was there at first.
Turned his head, we made eye contact. He wasn't the least bit concerned, stayed relaxed, looked around, continued on his way after a minute or so. A neighborhood Crow - about the same size - would never have tolerated a situation like that.
Later... Thin clouds, snow if you looked carefully at the right time. Sun started really punching through in the afternoon, sky to the SW started looking very doable.
Sunset at 17:29, got on station at about 18:45, light air, about fifteen degrees warmer than previous stop on station (2021/01/29). I noticed on the way in that, while the observation area in my hay field was a lot lower than Pastures, the limiting terrain to its west was as well. May not have fared any better if I'd continued on as planned.
Started scanning (sky was dark with Geese before it was dark with Sun below the horizon) and it wasn't looking good. Sun had gone down way to the right of my gunsight road. (On the solstice it goes down at 239 degrees, road is 241.3, last evening 249.) Horizon terrain slopes up to the right. I trespassed in with the binocular about 130 yards which bought me seven feet more elevation but...
So that'll be it for Evening Mercury until late April. Kinda bummed out - and pissed off about the dead battery fiasco and the timing and duration of the rather nasty weather deal. But I guess I can't complain after all the outstanding luck with the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction.
Shifted to the darker - and cloudier - sky behind me. Two stars blasting through. Sirius I IDed but couldn't do the other 'cause I there was nothing I around to use as for reference.
At 18:13 the Killdeer I thought I'd been hearing on a couple previous occasions confirmed him/her-self but good - though audio only, what with the light being zilch despite the still full snow cover. Close in flying patterns. He's now another red flag on eBird.
-
Tad Eareckson
- Posts: 9161
- Joined: 2010/11/25 03:48:55 UTC
Re: birds
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/cicada-season-what-to-expect-from-the-coming-brood-thats-been-underground-for-17-years
Cicada season: What to expect from the coming brood that’s been underground for 17 years | PBS NewsHour
...
Cicada season: What to expect from the coming brood that’s been underground for 17 years | PBS NewsHour
Judy Woodruff - 2021/04/27
Everyone would agree this past year has been tragic in so many ways. It's also been strange.
But something is about to happen to make it even stranger. The bugs are coming, billions of bugs. The periodic cicada invasion is just days away in many states.
And we are so pleased that one of our own, John Yang, has gone and learned what you need to know to cope with the coming brood.
...
But who's to say enough of them couldn't pick someone up and take them away? We will see.
I know they're harmless, but they're grossing us all out.
Really? Tell me how something that's been going off like clockwork for over the past million years can be defined as "strange".But something is about to happen to make it even stranger.
From where? From how far away?The bugs are coming...
More like trillions....billions of bugs.
Do we still have enough time to fortify our beaches to significantly blunt the force of the invasion?The periodic cicada invasion is just days away in many states.
Not seeing anything in the transcript about how to COPE with them. Also not seeing anything about anything they're doing with which anybody needs to cope. Maybe we could get some time on what the cicadas should be doing to cope with all the shit we humans are doing to them - global warming, disrupted climatic patterns, habitat destruction, deforestation, plastic and chemical pollution...And we are so pleased that one of our own, John Yang, has gone and learned what you need to know to cope with the coming brood.
...
Who's to say one of us couldn't crush scores of them under our tires and smash scores of them into our windshields? And they're not the invaders - WE ARE.But who's to say enough of them couldn't pick someone up and take them away?
I'll be so elated when it's all safely over. And since the next Brood X emergence won't happen until the spring of 2038 and I'm pushing 68 this one may be the last I'll be privileged to see.We will see.
...in stark contrast to us Homo sapiens...I know they're harmless...
Thanks so very much for speaking on behalf of all of us - dickhead. Also on behalf all the individuals involved in and contributing to the segment - not to mention the possum....but they're grossing us all out.