But this is what I saw:
Friday, August 12, 2016
Update on Last Posting.
Remember my last blog posting back three days ago on August 9th when I told you to watch the sky on Thursday night? Yes, I took my own advice but was really disappointed. Two things were against me. Clouds were moving in fast and a bright moon was peaking through the breaks in the clouds. These first two pictures are what I was hoping to see:
Yes, I found these pictures on the internet. I did stay up real late to take a look. I also got up in the wee hours of this morning, hoping it had cleared off enough to see some of the showers. Nope, no luck this year and the Perseid meteor showers will not be back for another year and I don't know when, if ever, Jupiter will again interact with the Perseids' parent comment and send dust and debris in our direction. Hope some of you had clear skies. Now, have a great day, you hear?
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There is just too much light pollution where I live to see anything in the sky, and if it requires me to stay up late I just can't do it. I can remember my Mom not understanding why my friends and I didn't go out until 10pm on a Friday night.
ReplyDeleteLight pollution is bad for viewing the night sky for sure. It is getting harder and harder to find a really dark site.
DeleteWent out at 3:00 and watched for an hour. Clear skies, several really bright meteors, lots of fainter ones. Did see a burst of 3 brighter ones within 5 seconds near Cygnus. Didn't keep count, just sat back and enjoyed!
ReplyDeleteI checked here at about 03:30 and it was still overcast. Just now went out to check tonight's sky and it is cloudy with the moon breaking through some openings. I found a couple of more holes in the clouds but didn't see anything. Thanks for the report on what you saw, Roger.
DeleteWhen I was younger and went to star parties, we called those "sucker holes". I find that the cold and damp really take a toll on me now, took a long time to warm up again.
DeleteHey Roger, I also used to go to star parties back when I had a truck with a cap on the back. My biggest telescope has a 16" dia. mirror and it stands taller than I am, so needed a truck to carry it. Need a stool to look through the eye pieces. I still have the scope but no truck anymore. Sure miss those star parties. I am also getting too old to stay up all night (grin).
DeleteMy largest scope was a 12" F 7.9, with a Tom Cave mirror on a old equatorial mount with an AC synchronous drive in a backyard observatory. Sadly, I had to sell it when we moved back to the city. I'm now using a 120mm F5 refractor and we moved back to the country to retire this spring. Planning to snowbird this coming winter if we can get the house into good condition before the snow comes. Really looking forward to Arizona skies!
DeleteToo bad you sold such a nice scope, but you do what you have to do. A city isn't the best place to observe the sky.
DeleteI am usually up late but I went to bed early as we had to drive to San Antonio for another appointment on Friday.
ReplyDeleteGuess I will have to wait until next year. The best place with little to no light pollution...at least in my book...is my beloved Terlingua :)
I would imagine that the desert would be a great place to view the night sky. I have been to "star parties" and only red lights are allowed. They don't affect the eyes like white lights. Talk about a red light district, star parties are one for sure (grin).
ReplyDeleteWe've had nothing but overcast skies from around 11 pm until morning for nights now. This morning I got up around midnight or 1am... to be greeted by heat lightning and then a real crash-banger thunder storm. Guess another meteorite shower went on right over my head, but I didn't see it. Maybe next year?
ReplyDeleteNope, the weather didn't cooperate. And now tonight we are getting some much needed rain.
DeleteStill too much light pollution to see much of anything.
ReplyDeleteThe bigger the aperture of the telescope, the less light pollution affects the viewing.
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