What to Do
Of course, as soon as I exhorted people to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy by going out and stargazing, the clouds settled in over our region and there hasn’t been a dry, clear night for a couple of nights now. This happens occasionally, and so the intrepid stargazer has to have a backup plan for such times when the stars aren’t going your way. For me, it usually means getting a book out or doing some Web surfing. Or, I’ll settle in for an evening of CSI reruns. (For those of you outside the U.S., CSI is short for “Crime Scene Investigation” — a show in multiple versions that purports to tell the “true” stories of what it’s like for forensics investigators who gather clues at crime scenes. With a little drama. And some sexy clothing. And more than a little wit. My favorite series is set in Las Vegas.)
Lately I’ve been kind of busy with work projects, so I haven’t had much chance to watch TV. So, the stars would have been a good diversion from work. Nonetheless, there are some leisure-time activities related to stargazing that I CAN recommend if the cloudy nights come YOUR way. Reading armchair astronomy books happens frequently for me. (I’ve listed a number of my favorites among those I own over at the Spacewriter’s Store (no, you don’t have to buy anything — it’s just easier to point you there since the URLs are already there). Sometimes it’s fun to get out Burnham’s Celestial Handbook and read up on some of the marvelous literary and scientific links the late author made to things we see in the sky. It’s a treasure trove.
Or, I’ll pull out Phil Plait’s Death from the Skies for a biting look at what people think is happening in the skies that really isn’t happening at all. Or, sometimes I just want to read a little space opera, so I’ll pull a science fiction book off the shelf and lose myself in the Vorkosiverse or the Asimov-verse or someplace like that. A few nights of doing that, and hopefully when the clouds pull out and leave behind clear skies, then I’m ready to step out and look up!