"Laura Halliday" wrote in message
om...

At this latitude (49 north) Capella is circumpolar.
Vega is circumpolar at my Mom's place.

Ah! At my latitude (28 N) even the Big Dipper is not circumpolar. ;-)

I find I have a much stronger "old friends are back"
reaction to the winter constellations than to the
summer ones. I suspect because the summer ones just
aren't very observable when dusk is at 0030, and for
6 weeks it doesn't get astronomically dark at all.

Similar feelings here for different reasons. Daily (almost) afternoon
thunderstorms keep the sky cloudy until midnight or later. Thus they are not
seen too often. Also, at 11pm temperature is usually around 80F with a
dewpoint around 75F which means that one perspires a lot just standing (or
sitting) at the eyepiece.

When I see Capella, I know that lower dewpoints are drawing nigh.

Clear Skies,
Craig in Tampa