Fingers Crossed

 (1/13/25, Noon) 

Coming back from the eye doctor’s office, the sky was a beautiful shade of blue. My eyes had been dilated and I was wearing those stylish plastic sunglasses that are held in place by placing them behind your glasses. The dark tint enhanced the color of the sky! I couldn’t help but get my hopes up, even though I knew better! I had tried to find three geocaches earlier in the morning but couldn’t find any of them. The fourth that I had in my GPS…I decided to ignore, it just wasn’t my day.

    Later this evening, the moon will pass in front of the red planet Mars, an occultation. I have been looking forward to seeing this for a month or two but I have been trying not to think about it. By getting excited about this would make it an even larger let-down when the clouds move in. I know what Pittsburgh weather is like, believe me!

    Astronomical occultations are when one heavenly body, such as the moon, passes in front of another stellar object. These are things that I look forward to; I find that it is exciting to see actual movement of a stellar object in real time. The stars and planets are all moving but rarely is it as obvious as when you are watching through a pair of binoculars or a telescope and can see the two objects getting closer, and closer together. The moon frequently occults stars but they are usually faint and harder to watch. The moons of Jupiter are often occulted by the planet and that also is exciting to watch. I find it fascinating that someone was able to calculate when these events would be happening!

 This evening’s moon will be full so it will be extremely bright.  Mars is easy to see in the night sky but sitting very close to the moon will make it difficult to see without some optical aid. By using a telescope with a drive on it, hopefully I will be able to use a powerful enough eyepiece so that only a small portion of the moon’s bright surface will be visible.

    I have started making my list of things to take with me. I find that by making a list, there will be less chance of forgetting something important. There is nothing worse than driving for a long distance and discovering one of the most important things I wanted to bring was left at home. I’ve done it before; my camera memory left sitting in the computer or batteries left in the charger, these lists help me, considerably!

    It is going to be cold, so I'll need to dress for that. I’ll bring along a hot beverage and maybe a snack.  My journal and a couple pens, the camera, binoculars and my eyepieces are just a few more of the things on my list. It will continue to grow as the day wears on.

    The sky is still clear, not a cloud to be seen…eight more hours to go. My fingers are crossed!

(Written 1/14/24, 9:00AM)

    Well. Let me tell you about last night. I prepared for a night at our clubs observatory by dressing for the occasion. I wore long underwear, top and bottoms, heavy socks over my regular socks, a winter jacket, gloves and a nice thick alpaca tousle cap to keep my head warm. All the gear I had on my list was in the car, and it was almost time to leave. 

    The moon was rising from behind the trees on the far side of the valley, there were no clouds in the sky at all, things were looking good! There was one more thing to do before hitting the road, watch the International Space Station pass over my neighbor’s houses.

    It was just past 6 and the sky was cloudless. I set up my camera and waited. In less than a minute, I saw it coming from behind one house and rising up to pass over another. A couple neighbors passed by and I pointed the satellite out to them. I’m not sure how excited they were, but I was!

    A quick stop was made for a large cup of coffee and then a drive through the countryside followed. The moon was getting higher and it was easy to see the scenery on the sides of the road. Mars could be seen sitting below the moon whenever I stopped to look.

    A fellow club member, Jody was at the observatory when I arrived. Together we opened the roof and exposed the telescope to the cold air, Eric showed up soon after. 

    Using the Brashear 11” refractor, I pointed it first at Venus. It appeared to be about 50% illuminated. After a quick look we moved the scope over to Saturn. This was a much more important view as far as I was concerned. The planet is just a couple months away from when its rings will appear edge on.

     I couldn't help it, I was ecstatic...the view was spectacular! The seeing was nice and steady. A couple light bands could be seen crossing the planet, but the most exciting thing was its rings. 

    The planets rings appeared like two golden bars on either side of the planets disc. Just below the bars was a thin black line crossing the planet, what I am guessing was the rings shadow. (Excuse the poor drawing, I wish I could’ve gotten a picture!) Off to the side was the largest of its moons, Titan.

  The brightness of the moon lit up the interior of the observatory, the red lights were useless this evening!

    The moon rose up over the observatory’s roof about 30 minutes before the occultation was due to happen. I put a high power eyepiece into the focuser and centered it on Mars. (14mm, 295X) We were able to see the markings on the planet’s surface and the northern ice cap. During periods of extreme clarity we were able to glimpse the southern cap as well.  

    As I watched, the moon eventually entered into the eyepieces field of view. Just a small section but as I watched, it got closer and increased its size in the eyepiece. Slowly it got closer and closer. As it neared, it seemed to increase in speed though this was just an illusion. This effect was really noticeable when the moon was only a “planet diameter” or two away from Mars. It was there one moment and gone the next. It was dramatic watching the planet as it was cut in half and then disappeared behind the moon!

    Yells and high fives were shared after it happened!

    I thought how amazing it was to see this planet, looking so small beside our moon, which looked so big. Mars is about half the size of the earth!  Mars is about 61 million miles away from us while the moon is only about 239,000 miles away. Quite a difference!

    Jody and Eric left soon afterwards but I stayed to watch the reappearance. Approximately an hour and 13 minutes later the planet showed up again, just as predicted.

    I then shifted the scope over to look at the planet Jupiter. The planets moon, Europa was nearing the planet. I watched as it finally appeared to touch the planets disc and then cross over in front of it. It “touched” Jupiter in nearly the same spot as Mars had disappeared behind the moon. In a weird kind of way, it was as if I was watching the event all over again. I watched until the moon had completely crossed onto the planets face, a bright dot sitting below one of the colored bands decorating the planet’s surface. Then I updated my journal and started to close things down.

    The temperature was a balmy 19° as I loaded my car. The wind made it feel even colder.

    Driving home I was almost tempted to turn off my headlights since the moon was so bright. (But I didn’t!!) The day had started out badly but it sure had taken a turn for the better!  The Pittsburgh weather gods had smiled on us all this evening! I finally uncrossed my fingers as I pulled up in front of my house.

“To see an occultation during a night of observing is sort of like putting a dollop of vanilla ice cream on a slice of warm apple pie, oh…so comforting!”

A Special Day

Today has always been special to me. I’ve always looked forward to it! This morning, it started out around 3:45 as my alarm rudely awakened me from a great dream. Looking out the window, I saw darkness. Opening the door and stepping outside, I was treated to a view of numerous stars in a cloud free sky.

    Oh Yes!!

    I could’ve set up the telescope but I thought watching the planets come up over the horizon might be a better, and easier, way to go. I opted for a short drive to the near-by hill top with the camera, tripod and my binoculars. The view there is always superior to my front yard.

    About 20 minutes later with a warm drink in hand I was parking the car. It was quiet and there were stars everywhere. My observing spot is fairly light free. I could see stars pretty low to the horizon and that’s tough here in Shaler!

    I set up the camera and took a couple test shots and then scanned the stars with my binoculars. The moon had set about an hour before I arrived so there were no problems with it hiding the stars.

    Jupiter had just risen above the horizon when I arrived and Venus would soon be breaking out so I concentrated on that section of the hillside. It was easy to see where it would be rising, the other three planets, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter made a straight line right to where it would be showing up.

    Venus showed up a couple minutes after its predicted time of arrival. Suddenly…there it was behind the trees and then it was shining free. It is amazing how quickly they rise when you have a reference point to compare them to! I snapped a few shots and then went back to exploring the sky with the binoculars

    As the sky brightened, the International Space Station passed off in the north. I had hoped it would be close enough to Venus to get a picture but by then the sky was too bright. Watching it in binoculars would just have to do.

    The birds were starting to wake up, soon joggers would be out and I was ready to refill my coffee cup. I made it home in time to see the sunrise.

    I said this day was special to me. It isn’t because of the stars or the planets. Not even the ISS made it special. It’s because on this day my daughter Chelsey was born!

    She just had a new son, Nico, who arrived a couple days before Mothers Day and her birthday. Yes, I’d have to say that our lives are truly blessed. It’s going to be a great day. This day always is!

.

Snowmageddon Chase

     For a couple days now, the forecasters have been warning the Pittsburgh area about the terrible winter storm heading our way.  This naturally sent people running to the stores and gas stations to refill everything that needed stocked. The snow didn’t start in Pittsburgh until late Sunday afternoon.

    By eleven there were a couple inches on the ground and people were wisely staying in their homes. The only vehicles seen on the highway below the house were snowplows. The walk was shoveled in preparation for additional snow that was forecast to come during the night.

    The morning was bright. Birds were working at depleting the seeds in the feeder. The walk needed another shoveling and before I could leave to go anywhere, the car needed cleared of snow and a path shoveled onto the road. After some coffee and breakfast, I went out to play in the snow. There was about 6-7 inches in my yard though in other places I went, it was deeper.

    The township where I live is very good at keeping the streets cleared after a snowfall. Thankfully the near-by communities had followed this lead. The roads I gravitated towards were the back roads. They were smaller roads which followed streams and railroad tracks, roads which tended to have less traffic on them than the larger ones. The car handled what little snow we encountered with no problems. I drove down one road that no plows had visited yet. A mile or two was enough for me but luckily, I encountered another road, just as the plow passed by!

    In Hampton Township I went to my favorite “go to” spot and pulled over and took a small walk down to the stream. I heard some loud bird calls and hoped it might be the heron, but I didn't see it. Walking along the railroad tracks heading back to the car, I couldn’t help but think that this would be a perfect time for a train to come along.

    A truck pulled in behind the car and a man got out with a camera. I said hello and asked if he was shooting “snow scenes” or “train shots”. When he replied "trains", I asked if one was coming soon. He said it would be here in a couple minutes! I started to hear the rumble of engines as we were talking. In less than a minute a train being pulled by three engines rounded the bend. What luck! He took some shots and returned to his truck and raced off after the train.

    A couple pictures later, I did the same. The train had passed the first crossing and as I took to higher roads above the tracks, I couldn’t see or hear it. I figured I’d have to chase it all the way to Mars. (Pennsylvania, not space!) Not far from Wildwood Road, I encountered it again. 

    The train had slowed down to wait for a signal that would allow them to continue on. Workers were clearing the snow and ice off of a switch further ahead. I learnt this by talking to the photographer I had met before.  He works for the RR in the publicity department and was taking some snowy rail shots of the train.

    After taking some more exposures I continued on looking for other subjects. Hunger and the need for another cup of coffee brought me back to the house. My feet had stayed dry but the bottoms of my jeans were soaked. It felt good slipping into some sweatpants and slippers. It was no big deal, sometimes you have sacrifice your comfort for your hobbies! 

    Note: As I am writing this, I hear the whistle of the train. The three engines are returning after dropping off their load. Instead of rushing out and chasing after them, I’ll simply take another sip of my coffee and watch as the lights below start to flash, the engines will be here in no time. I’ll simply stay inside where it’s nice, dry and warm. Maybe I'll read a book!

Geocaching to the Extreme!

 

Geocaching has taken me to many cool spots, all over the country. I have been to the tops of a couple mountains, gone into caves, found lakes and cliffs and mysterious stone structures hidden deep in the woods. This morning I made a find in a place I’ve never been before. The planet Mars!

                When NASA sent its Perseverance Rover to the red planet, included on it was a tracking number that could be logged on the Geocaching.com web site.

                Travel bugs have been taken into space before, taking rides on the International Space Station but this is the first time one has gone to another planet!

                Launched from Earth in July of 2020, the rover landed on the red planet in February of 2021. On the 17^th of March, the rover sent pictures back to earth. Included in these pictures was one of its calibration chart.  The tracking code is “hidden” on a 1” piece of glass that is part of that target.

                This is one of those things that just tweeks my geek genes! It combines geocaching and astronomy, wow! I love it! There it was 12:40 in the morning and no one to talk to.  There was no one to share my story with, a story that will be told many times later today, starting with this time!

                So, tonight when you look up in the sky and see that red dot not too far away from the Pleiades and the bright star Aldebaran, just think about the rover moving around on its surface, taking pictures and sending them back to earth…and even more exciting, that you can go geocaching there!

Oh, it is the simple things (?) in life that excite me!