Christmas Midnight

The weather today was absolutely bizarre for an Iowa Christmas... A high of 47 degrees F, and RAIN. I've seen ice storms on Christmas, but I can't remember a Christmas when it just plain RAINED. The little snow we had is now gone, but tonight, the sky cleared! My midnight Christmas walks are seldom "observing sessions," but tonight I needed a charge of starlight... A few minutes before midnight, I dressed up warm on account of the damp wind and grabbed the little 7x35 binoculars I keep by the back door.
Looking around as I walked down the hill by my house, the landscape had lost any Christmas card look it might have had the night before, but up above were the stars of Christmas... right where they'd been for every Christmas midnight of my life and long before. Since it was still Christmas, I first swung my little binoculars up to the North Star to find a little star about 5 degrees west of it. (tonight) I saw a reindeer! That little star, a couple degrees from the dimmish, obscure star cluster NGC 188, shows on many OLD star charts as being the tail of Rangifer the Reindeer, one of those obscure,obsolete, constellations nobody pays any attention to anymore, but it's fun on Christmas.
Then I turned to the south. The clouds were gone, the air was transparent, and the bright stars of the winter sky were out in full force. The air was turbulent though, and even the brightest stars twinkled wildly. I swung my little binoculars up to Orion, with the reddish Betelgeuse just west of the meridian... The Great Nebula in his sword showed well, it's bat-like wings flaring off below and to the sides. In the little binocs, the entire belt and sword were peppered with more stars than I could count. I swung over to Sirius, flickering away in Canus Major, and dropped down to the Star Cluster M 41, and then swung further east to one of my favorite sights in the sky... the pair of star clusters M 46 and M 47... In the the little binoculars, M 47 was the more obvious, coarsely studded with stars. M 46 was more subtle, showing as a dim round fuzzball of stardust. Leo was rising in the east, as he always does on a Christmas midnight, chasing the Beehive cluster in Cancer... The little binoculars turned the naked eye smudge into a big patch of stars. I turned and backed off a little to the east, so that I could catch sight of the Pleiades over the trees without facing the glare from "The Church of the Perpetually Lit Parking Lot." The Pleiades were one of my first sights through my dad's elcheapo 7x35's, and that sight was one of the things that got me permanently hooked on the stars. Finally, I swept up the dim Winter Milky Way, just east of Orion and Canis Major... The Winter Milky Way doesn't get the attention usually awarded to the brighter, more spectacular Summer Milky Way, but still, the little 7x35's opened it up into a river of countless stars.
I looked straight up... Auriga was directly overhead. I would've looked for the bright "Auriga Star Clusters," but I would've lost my hat onto the wet ground. Time to go back in. Christmas was over, but the clear, starry sky topped it off perfectly.
I hope everyone had a Merry one, and I wish you a Happy New Year!
Marty

Thanks Marty! I had a long work day today. Shoveling, sweeping, and plowing snow started at 10am and didn't end until 4pm. Though I did take a few short breaks. The high was +30 degrees F. The birds and rabbits are back at the base of our nearest ponderosa pine tree. Mrs. Sketcher keeps the bird feeders well stocked, and scatters seed at the base of the tree as well.

The "Colosseum" - my open-air observatory - is once again free of snow and ice. Shortly after sunset "Buttercup" (a refurbished 60mm f/11.7 achromat) went out for a quick look and sketch of Venus. By that time the temperature had dropped to +20F. A bit later tonight Buttercup will probably go out once more for an observation and sketch of the Great Orion Nebula. After that, I should have plenty of 60mm observations for an old project that has been on the 'back burner' for a while.

I hate it when precipitation starts as rain, freezes, and turns to snow. It's much easier to deal with if temperatures stay above or below freezing for the duration. Weather isn't like it once was here. There have been recent years when I only had to plow snow for one or two days total. So far this season I've had to plow twice. Speaking of weather, my record cold observation is not likely to be broken (by me) - minus 50 degrees F. - (doesn't include wind-chill). That was a quick tripod-mounted 20x80 binocular observation and sketch of a comet. When I reached up to adjust the focus (just a few minutes after going outside) the focus was already frozen solid! Fortunately it didn't 'really' need adjusting . . .

I don't know Buttercup's history. I acquired it for free as a discarded item from someone's auction lot. Perhaps it was someone's discarded Christmas present from several years ago. . . Optics are excellent, but various repairs had to be made to make it serviceable once again. Two 1.25" eyepieces were modified (by improvising .965" barrels) to make the scope more flexible. Buttercup can now be used at 28x, 70x, or 117x. Tonight's Venus observation was made at 70x.

Sketcher,
To sketch is to see.

On Monday, December 26, 2016 at 12:16:21 AM UTC-7, Marty wrote:
The weather today was absolutely bizarre for an Iowa Christmas... A high of 47 degrees F, and RAIN. I've seen ice storms on Christmas, but I can't remember a Christmas when it just plain RAINED. The little snow we had is now gone, but tonight, the sky cleared! My midnight Christmas walks are seldom "observing sessions," but tonight I needed a charge of starlight... A few minutes before midnight, I dressed up warm on account of the damp wind and grabbed the little 7x35 binoculars I keep by the back door.
Looking around as I walked down the hill by my house, the landscape had lost any Christmas card look it might have had the night before, but up above were the stars of Christmas... right where they'd been for every Christmas midnight of my life and long before. Since it was still Christmas, I first swung my little binoculars up to the North Star to find a little star about 5 degrees west of it. (tonight) I saw a reindeer! That little star, a couple degrees from the dimmish, obscure star cluster NGC 188, shows on many OLD star charts as being the tail of Rangifer the Reindeer, one of those obscure,obsolete, constellations nobody pays any attention to anymore, but it's fun on Christmas.
Then I turned to the south. The clouds were gone, the air was transparent, and the bright stars of the winter sky were out in full force. The air was turbulent though, and even the brightest stars twinkled wildly. I swung my little binoculars up to Orion, with the reddish Betelgeuse just west of the meridian... The Great Nebula in his sword showed well, it's bat-like wings flaring off below and to the sides. In the little binocs, the entire belt and sword were peppered with more stars than I could count. I swung over to Sirius, flickering away in Canus Major, and dropped down to the Star Cluster M 41, and then swung further east to one of my favorite sights in the sky... the pair of star clusters M 46 and M 47... In the the little binoculars, M 47 was the more obvious, coarsely studded with stars. M 46 was more subtle, showing as a dim round fuzzball of stardust. Leo was rising in the east, as he always does on a Christmas midnight, chasing the Beehive cluster in Cancer... The little binoculars turned the naked eye smudge into a big patch of stars. I turned and backed off a little to the east, so that I could catch sight of the Pleiades over the trees without facing the glare from "The Church of the Perpetually Lit Parking Lot." The Pleiades were one of my first sights through my dad's elcheapo 7x35's, and that sight was one of the things that got me permanently hooked on the stars. Finally, I swept up the dim Winter Milky Way, just east of Orion and Canis Major... The Winter Milky Way doesn't get the attention usually awarded to the brighter, more spectacular Summer Milky Way, but still, the little 7x35's opened it up into a river of countless stars.
I looked straight up... Auriga was directly overhead. I would've looked for the bright "Auriga Star Clusters," but I would've lost my hat onto the wet ground. Time to go back in. Christmas was over, but the clear, starry sky topped it off perfectly.
I hope everyone had a Merry one, and I wish you a Happy New Year!
Marty

On Monday, December 26, 2016 at 7:57:59 PM UTC-6, Sketcher wrote:
Thanks Marty! I had a long work day today. Shoveling, sweeping, and plowing snow started at 10am and didn't end until 4pm. Though I did take a few short breaks. The high was +30 degrees F. The birds and rabbits are back at the base of our nearest ponderosa pine tree. Mrs. Sketcher keeps the bird feeders well stocked, and scatters seed at the base of the tree as well.

The "Colosseum" - my open-air observatory - is once again free of snow and ice. Shortly after sunset "Buttercup" (a refurbished 60mm f/11.7 achromat) went out for a quick look and sketch of Venus. By that time the temperature had dropped to +20F. A bit later tonight Buttercup will probably go out once more for an observation and sketch of the Great Orion Nebula. After that, I should have plenty of 60mm observations for an old project that has been on the 'back burner' for a while.

I hate it when precipitation starts as rain, freezes, and turns to snow. It's much easier to deal with if temperatures stay above or below freezing for the duration. Weather isn't like it once was here. There have been recent years when I only had to plow snow for one or two days total. So far this season I've had to plow twice. Speaking of weather, my record cold observation is not likely to be broken (by me) - minus 50 degrees F. - (doesn't include wind-chill). That was a quick tripod-mounted 20x80 binocular observation and sketch of a comet. When I reached up to adjust the focus (just a few minutes after going outside) the focus was already frozen solid! Fortunately it didn't 'really' need adjusting . . .

I don't know Buttercup's history. I acquired it for free as a discarded item from someone's auction lot. Perhaps it was someone's discarded Christmas present from several years ago. . . Optics are excellent, but various repairs had to be made to make it serviceable once again. Two 1.25" eyepieces were modified (by improvising .965" barrels) to make the scope more flexible. Buttercup can now be used at 28x, 70x, or 117x. Tonight's Venus observation was made at 70x.

Sketcher,
To sketch is to see.

On Monday, December 26, 2016 at 12:16:21 AM UTC-7, Marty wrote:
The weather today was absolutely bizarre for an Iowa Christmas... A high of 47 degrees F, and RAIN. I've seen ice storms on Christmas, but I can't remember a Christmas when it just plain RAINED. The little snow we had is now gone, but tonight, the sky cleared! My midnight Christmas walks are seldom "observing sessions," but tonight I needed a charge of starlight... A few minutes before midnight, I dressed up warm on account of the damp wind and grabbed the little 7x35 binoculars I keep by the back door.
Looking around as I walked down the hill by my house, the landscape had lost any Christmas card look it might have had the night before, but up above were the stars of Christmas... right where they'd been for every Christmas midnight of my life and long before. Since it was still Christmas, I first swung my little binoculars up to the North Star to find a little star about 5 degrees west of it. (tonight) I saw a reindeer! That little star, a couple degrees from the dimmish, obscure star cluster NGC 188, shows on many OLD star charts as being the tail of Rangifer the Reindeer, one of those obscure,obsolete, constellations nobody pays any attention to anymore, but it's fun on Christmas.
Then I turned to the south. The clouds were gone, the air was transparent, and the bright stars of the winter sky were out in full force. The air was turbulent though, and even the brightest stars twinkled wildly. I swung my little binoculars up to Orion, with the reddish Betelgeuse just west of the meridian... The Great Nebula in his sword showed well, it's bat-like wings flaring off below and to the sides. In the little binocs, the entire belt and sword were peppered with more stars than I could count. I swung over to Sirius, flickering away in Canus Major, and dropped down to the Star Cluster M 41, and then swung further east to one of my favorite sights in the sky... the pair of star clusters M 46 and M 47... In the the little binoculars, M 47 was the more obvious, coarsely studded with stars. M 46 was more subtle, showing as a dim round fuzzball of stardust. Leo was rising in the east, as he always does on a Christmas midnight, chasing the Beehive cluster in Cancer... The little binoculars turned the naked eye smudge into a big patch of stars. I turned and backed off a little to the east, so that I could catch sight of the Pleiades over the trees without facing the glare from "The Church of the Perpetually Lit Parking Lot." The Pleiades were one of my first sights through my dad's elcheapo 7x35's, and that sight was one of the things that got me permanently hooked on the stars. Finally, I swept up the dim Winter Milky Way, just east of Orion and Canis Major... The Winter Milky Way doesn't get the attention usually awarded to the brighter, more spectacular Summer Milky Way, but still, the little 7x35's opened it up into a river of countless stars.
I looked straight up... Auriga was directly overhead. I would've looked for the bright "Auriga Star Clusters," but I would've lost my hat onto the wet ground. Time to go back in. Christmas was over, but the clear, starry sky topped it off perfectly.
I hope everyone had a Merry one, and I wish you a Happy New Year!
Marty


50 below???!!! I can't say I'm quite that dedicated!
I DID buy some insulated coveralls this year with the intention of observing a bit more in cold weather. Looking at retiring in a few months.
Marty

My 50 below session was a one-time deal. I was younger, and comets were more motivating (subject to unpredictable change) than run-of-the-mill observing. That session, from beginning to end, probably lasted about 5 minutes - certainly no more than 10. (I can - and often I do - dark-adapt inside with the lights off.) In all seriousness, one can't imagine what 50 below is like. It has to be experienced to be fully appreciated. People should stay inside when it's that cold! That being said, I've had (years ago) a few comet-hunting sessions that lasted an hour or two each when the temperature was minus 20F. I must have been a bit more insane back then than I am now ;-)

Last night's 60mm Orion Nebula session went nicely (temperature ranged from plus 20 to plus 17 degrees F). I don't think many people realize just how much can be seen with a 60mm refractor. For deep sky, it helps that I have a 'dark' sky; but even the sun, moon, and planets can show reasonable amounts of detail. It's a pity that so few "department store" 60mm refractors ever get a chance to show their stuff. I place the blame more on the user than on the instrument.

Once a person learns how to observe, any telescope can be put to good use.

Sketcher,
To sketch is to see.

On Tuesday, December 27, 2016 at 7:16:13 AM UTC-7, Marty wrote:

50 below???!!! I can't say I'm quite that dedicated!
I DID buy some insulated coveralls this year with the intention of observing a bit more in cold weather. Looking at retiring in a few months.
Marty

On Tuesday, December 27, 2016 at 2:40:37 PM UTC-5, Sketcher wrote:

Last night's 60mm Orion Nebula session went nicely (temperature ranged from
plus 20 to plus 17 degrees F). I don't think many people realize just how
much can be seen with a 60mm refractor. For deep sky, it helps that I have a
'dark' sky; but even the sun, moon, and planets can show reasonable amounts of
detail. It's a pity that so few "department store" 60mm refractors ever get a chance to show their stuff. I place the blame more on the user than on the
instrument.

One rather prolific poster (aka c.p.) claims to have been "harmed" by one of those 60mm refractors when he was a kid!

Once a person learns how to observe, any telescope can be put to good use.

If you can see more with the scope than without it, then it is a good scope.

On Tuesday, 27 December 2016 20:40:37 UTC+1, Sketcher wrote:
My 50 below session was a one-time deal. I was younger, and comets were more motivating (subject to unpredictable change) than run-of-the-mill observing. That session, from beginning to end, probably lasted about 5 minutes - certainly no more than 10. (I can - and often I do - dark-adapt inside with the lights off.) In all seriousness, one can't imagine what 50 below is like. It has to be experienced to be fully appreciated. People should stay inside when it's that cold! That being said, I've had (years ago) a few comet-hunting sessions that lasted an hour or two each when the temperature was minus 20F. I must have been a bit more insane back then than I am now ;-)

Last night's 60mm Orion Nebula session went nicely (temperature ranged from plus 20 to plus 17 degrees F). I don't think many people realize just how much can be seen with a 60mm refractor. For deep sky, it helps that I have a 'dark' sky; but even the sun, moon, and planets can show reasonable amounts of detail. It's a pity that so few "department store" 60mm refractors ever get a chance to show their stuff. I place the blame more on the user than on the instrument.

Once a person learns how to observe, any telescope can be put to good use..

Sketcher,
To sketch is to see.

On Tuesday, December 27, 2016 at 7:16:13 AM UTC-7, Marty wrote:

50 below???!!! I can't say I'm quite that dedicated!
I DID buy some insulated coveralls this year with the intention of observing a bit more in cold weather. Looking at retiring in a few months.
Marty

The lowest air temperature I have observed at was 20 minutes at -25C [-13C] confirmed on two digital thermometers dangling from the mounting.
I remember the snow covered ground being slightly warmer at -23C [-9.4F] when I lowered the sensor onto the snow.
I thought I saw -28C [-18F] at first but cannot confirm it and the forecasters had said it was not that cold.
We have a small hill to our east which probably causes a frost pocket with typical, winter easterly air streams.

I wore my largest [oversized] down jacket with another underneath over a down waistcoat.
And two pairs of insulated trousers over skiing underwear.[US = pants]
A fleece hat under two down hoods could not keep the ice from creeping through my beard and tugging hard at my chin.

Even though I rotated eyepieces through my inner pockets they iced up within seconds.
Probably from the moisture from my eye as I had trained myself to breathe "away" from the focuser.

My PVC extension cable for the drives quickly became as stiff as the thickest, steel wire.
I had to leave the coiled cable out on the lawn like some giant, untidy spring. A week passed before it thawed enough to wind it [very carefully] back onto its spool.
The 6" refractor was sheathed in ice and difficult to dismount to carry it back into storage.

The garden pond has hardly iced over in the ensuing years.
Anecdotal AGW? Suit yourselves. You will anyway.

On Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at 2:34:16 AM UTC-5, Chris.B wrote:


The lowest air temperature I have observed at was 20 minutes at -25C [-13C] blah

Decades ago a Brit, stargazing while overwintering in Antarctica, endured much colder temps than you ever did. He wrote about it for S&T. Unlike your ramblings, his story was actually interesting.

On Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at 4:50:49 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at 2:34:16 AM UTC-5, Chris.B wrote:


The lowest air temperature I have observed at was 20 minutes at -25C [-13C] blah

Decades ago a Brit, stargazing while overwintering in Antarctica, endured much colder temps than you ever did. He wrote about it for S&T. Unlike your ramblings, his story was actually interesting.

Haven't missed one of your walks in many years. Of course I got yours fresh a few days ago, but couldn't resist dropping in here for old times' sake... This walk is a genuine SAA institution not to be missed. Thanks again!!!

And I hope old friends here are well & had a fine Christmas & New Years this year!!!

Jan