The crisp skies of December are here. Orion glitters in the east, with the Pleiades proceeding it in fuzzy but glittering splendor. I always like the whole Orion sector of the sky. There’s a lot to explore there.

We were out to dinner last night with friends, and afterwards came back to the house for coffee. The sky was so clear and beautiful we tarried outside for a little bit to admire the view. I wished again that I had a heated observatory so I could sit out all night just directing my scope from one cool sight to the next! I have the telescope. Now all I have to do is build the observatory!

Is stargazing always like this? Cold, clear, beautiful? No, of course not. But those nights when it is picture perfect make up for all the times when conditions are less than good. Like tonight—which I expect will be cold, cloudy, drizzly, and freezing.

I’ve talked here before about good cloudy night reading, and I can always retreat to the books, or surfing the Web. Just today I ran across a pretty neat website called Observing the Sky. It’s got daily observing reports, plus special entries from a variety of “guest observers” like David and Wendee Levy, Chuck Wood, and others. You can learn a lot from these reports, and maybe something you read here will pique your interest the next time you’re out under a clear, lovely sky.