Insomniac observing

I found myself wide awake at 0530 this morning, and
figured I might as well go out and have a look...

The sky is *just* starting to brighten about then,
so I didn't take my telescope out. Just my binoculars.

The sky was what you would get in the early evening
in January. The Pleides were putting on a great show,
due south. Orion was high in the southeast, with
Sirius sparkling below. Saturn was prominent in
the middle of Gemini, and I saw Jupiter through a
gap in the trees, right next to Regulus, my first
sighting since May. I know where Mercury would have
been, but my eastern horizon is not Mercury-friendly.

Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Que les nuages soient notre
Grid: CN89mg pied a terre..."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Hospital/Shafte

"Laura Halliday" wrote in message
om...
I found myself wide awake at 0530 this morning, and
figured I might as well go out and have a look...

The sky is *just* starting to brighten about then,
so I didn't take my telescope out. Just my binoculars.

The sky was what you would get in the early evening
in January. The Pleides were putting on a great show,
due south. Orion was high in the southeast, with
Sirius sparkling below. Saturn was prominent in
the middle of Gemini, and I saw Jupiter through a
gap in the trees, right next to Regulus, my first
sighting since May. I know where Mercury would have
been, but my eastern horizon is not Mercury-friendly.

Sounds like a great cure for insomnia!

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try the Lunar Observing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/


Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Que les nuages soient notre
Grid: CN89mg pied a terre..."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Hospital/Shafte

In article ,
(Laura Halliday) wrote:

I found myself wide awake at 0530 this morning, and
figured I might as well go out and have a look...

The sky is *just* starting to brighten about then,
so I didn't take my telescope out. Just my binoculars.

The sky was what you would get in the early evening
in January. The Pleides were putting on a great show,
due south. Orion was high in the southeast, with
Sirius sparkling below. Saturn was prominent in
the middle of Gemini, and I saw Jupiter through a
gap in the trees, right next to Regulus, my first
sighting since May. I know where Mercury would have
been, but my eastern horizon is not Mercury-friendly.



The Winter constellations are sure beautiful.

I've spent so much time observing Mars these last 4-5 months that I've
totally screwed up my internal clock. Until August, I was watching it
thru dawn, and was thinking how happy I'd be when it was no longer
available. Now that I lose it about 3:00am, I've taken to observing
Saturn. I could use a week or two of really crummy weather.......;-

Starry Skies,
Rich

"Laura Halliday" wrote in message
om...
I found myself wide awake at 0530 this morning, and
figured I might as well go out and have a look...

The sky is *just* starting to brighten about then,
so I didn't take my telescope out. Just my binoculars.

The sky was what you would get in the early evening
in January. The Pleides were putting on a great show,
due south. Orion was high in the southeast, with
Sirius sparkling below. Saturn was prominent in
the middle of Gemini, and I saw Jupiter through a
gap in the trees, right next to Regulus, my first
sighting since May. I know where Mercury would have
been, but my eastern horizon is not Mercury-friendly.

Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Que les nuages soient notre
Grid: CN89mg pied a terre..."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Hospital/Shafte

Beautiful, isn't it? It's like old friends returning for a visit.

Steve

On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 01:24:07 GMT, Richard DeLuca
wrote:

The Winter constellations are sure beautiful.

I've spent so much time observing Mars these last 4-5 months that I've
totally screwed up my internal clock. Until August, I was watching it
thru dawn, and was thinking how happy I'd be when it was no longer
available. Now that I lose it about 3:00am, I've taken to observing
Saturn. I could use a week or two of really crummy weather.......;-

Starry Skies,
Rich

Hi Rich,

There's an old Irish proverb that say's "Be careful what you wish for
because you might get it."

I posted almost the same thing here a week or so ago after having
probably the best Summer weather in memory here in SF. Now, we're into
a week's worth of overcast.

AH

In article ,
Al Hall wrote:

On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 01:24:07 GMT, Richard DeLuca
wrote:

The Winter constellations are sure beautiful.

I've spent so much time observing Mars these last 4-5 months that I've
totally screwed up my internal clock. Until August, I was watching it
thru dawn, and was thinking how happy I'd be when it was no longer
available. Now that I lose it about 3:00am, I've taken to observing
Saturn. I could use a week or two of really crummy weather.......;-

Starry Skies,
Rich

Hi Rich,

There's an old Irish proverb that say's "Be careful what you wish for
because you might get it."

I posted almost the same thing here a week or so ago after having
probably the best Summer weather in memory here in SF. Now, we're into
a week's worth of overcast.

AH


Hi Al,

Yes, I was aware of 'the curse' when I wrote the above message- that's
why I followed it with the winkie emoticon. But, you're right of
course. Like you, we have had a lot of good weather here this summer.

Starry Skies,
Rich

"Steve Little" wrote in message
...

"Laura Halliday" wrote in message
om...
I found myself wide awake at 0530 this morning, and
figured I might as well go out and have a look...

[snip]

The sky was what you would get in the early evening
in January. The Pleides were putting on a great show,
due south. Orion was high in the southeast, with
Sirius sparkling below.

[snip]

Beautiful, isn't it? It's like old friends returning for a visit.

Stepped outside about 11:00pm and heard myself saying, "Why, hello there
Capella!" as it twinkled wildly.

Clear Skies,
Craig in Tampa

"Craig MacDougal" wrote in message om...
"Steve Little" wrote in message
...

"Laura Halliday" wrote in message
om...
I found myself wide awake at 0530 this morning, and
figured I might as well go out and have a look...

[snip]

The sky was what you would get in the early evening
in January. The Pleides were putting on a great show,
due south. Orion was high in the southeast, with
Sirius sparkling below.

[snip]

Beautiful, isn't it? It's like old friends returning for a visit.

Stepped outside about 11:00pm and heard myself saying, "Why, hello there
Capella!" as it twinkled wildly.

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

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.

Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Que les nuages soient notre
Grid: CN89mg pied a terre..."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Hospital/Shafte

"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

In article ,
Craig MacDougal wrote:
"Laura Halliday" wrote in message
. com...

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. ;-)

Only parts of it! At your latitude, Alkaid is _not_ circumpolar.....



--
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Schlyter, Grev Turegatan 40, SE-114 38 Stockholm, SWEDEN
e-mail: pausch at stockholm dot bostream dot se
WWW: http://www.stjarnhimlen.se/
http://home.tiscali.se/pausch/