Category Archives: stargazing

stargazing

Observing the Sky

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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.

musings, stargazing

Serendipitous Stargazing

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We’ve had an unexpected (but welcome) warm spell here in the Northeast U.S. today. That means later on I can go out and do a little warm-night skygazing at the spring stars overhead. It’s not often we can do that in April around here. And, actually, there’s a good chance that it’ll cloud up and rain sometime soon, so I don’t want to lose the opportunity! In this stargazing business, you have to grab your chances when you can!

A few years ago I remember going out in downtown Boston (I lived in the North End for a short time) and being amazed to find Comet Hale-Bopp! It was bright enough we could see it from the middle of all the city lights. In fact, Mark and I grabbed the wait staff at the restaurant where we’d just had dinner and showed them the comet. Of course, it wasn’t all that warm (being late March at the time), but the generous impulse was appreciated. People respond to nifty cool things like being able to see a comet from a spot where, by all rights, they shouldn’t have a chance. A friend of mine who lives in New York City has regaled me with tales of taking her little scope out to a park near her place and showing people Mars and Saturn and Jupiter and the Moon. So, you never know when you might get a chance to see a celestial sight — and maybe share it with somebody!