Before the Dawn

 Stepping outside after waking in the early morning, I notice at once, the shadows. The moon, just a few days past full casts shadows into the yard giving an appearance of almost daylight. Darkness is prevalent in them. No details are present, only shapes and suggestions. Clouds drift quickly by.

    It is quiet, peaceful. An occasional car breaks the silence passing on the highway in the distance. Acorns fall every once in a while, their sharp loud noise, startling. I take a seat on the chair sitting on the porch to relax and watch.

    A cloud drifts in front of the moon darkening the shadows even more. The trees are just silhouettes, two dimensional, framing the sky above. To the east in a patch of clear sky Jupiter stands proudly by itself, a couple brighter stars standing a few degrees away. The clouds then slowly reveal Orion sitting below to my tired eyes.

    Sitting in the moonlight, even though the moon is covered by clouds, my seeing improves.  I can see the watering cans sitting beside me, the speckling of the paint on the porch, the cracks between the slabs of the sidewalk and the sticks placed in the garden months ago to hold back the overgrowth.

    The neighbors' lights are all off, no porch lights disturb the darkness. Dim lights show through here and there, nightlights escaping from with-in.

    The moon disappears, the clouds hiding even its shape. A mere brightness is all that remains to remind me where it is. Jupiter and Orion have gone also, covered by the advancing clouds. Though the moon is gone, the scenery is still visible.

    Traffic on the highway has increased, the sounds becoming a steady hum, hiding the silence of the night with the noise of the day to come. Cars pass by on closer roads, a motorcycle, an airplane passes overhead and then the drone and lights of a helicopter passing by.

    Jupiter and the moon peek through holes for a minute or two before disappearing again in the thickening clouds. In the eastern skies a faint orangish hue touches the clouds, just barely noticeable.

    Twenty minutes later, the clouds have dissipated, and the moon and Jupiter are visible once again though most of the stars have faded away. Pinkish clouds sit off in the east. The sky is now blue as compared to the near black of before.

    The background noises are now continuous, traffic, planes, the cracks and bangs of the manufacturers located below me.

    As I watch as the remaining stars slowly disappear, a flock of geese passes somewhere above and behind me. Only two stars remain beside Jupiter and then, they are gone also. The yard is brightening. Dawn is nearing. The brakes of a delivery truck squeal as they are set and a bang sounds as a ramp is attached to it. The noises of the day have successfully eradicated the silence of the night. Watching as the clouds return to cover the moon and Jupiter once again, I decide, it’s time to go back inside and maybe make a cup of coffee; the day is well under way!

Watching Stars Disappear

 The skies above are filled with constant motion. Besides the clouds and the sun crossing slowly across the sky during our days, we also have the motion of the moon. Further out, the planets move around in our night and morning skies and change their positions to each other. Even further out, though much less noticeable, the stars slowly change their nightly position (due to the earth’s orbit) and their positions as compared to each other, visible only through telescopes and by comparing their positions to older pictures.

    In our own solar system, with even a small telescope we can see the moons of planets moving over the course of a night. We can also see the motion of our own moon by watching it pass in front of the stars behind it. Using telescopes and even binoculars we can watch as stars are covered by the moon. This is called an occultation, when one object moves in front of another, blocking it from view. I find it fascinating to watch this happen! 

    The solar eclipse we saw in April was actually an occultation; the moon slowly covered the sun from our view!

    A friend in my astronomy club recently sent out an e-mail, reminding us that there was going to be an occultation of the bright star Spica on Saturday night. (7/13/24)

    Since the club had two star parties scheduled for that weekend, I felt as if the event couldn’t help but be clouded out, that is how so many of our star parties usually end up. It is a Pittsburgh thing and also an astronomy thing.

    The jokes about rain and clouds and the recent purchases of telescopes and astronomical events are both old and completely uncountable.  I can’t recall how many times I’ve heard people apologizing for buying new equipment and for the resulting clouds they brought with it. I didn’t want to get my hopes up…

( For another blog about astronomy, occultations and clouds, click below)

Notes from a Reading Addict: Waiting for the Clouds to Part (bookman56.blogspot.com)

    I started making my list. I don’t want to forget anything important, the last thing I want to do is set everything up and find out I’ve forgotten one of the most important things required! This is what was on the list; my camera (charged!) and its assorted gear, the telescope, its tripod, counterweights, binoculars, a notebook and pen, flashlights (red and white), an accurate timepiece and of course, the obligatory cup of coffee. I knew where I was going to go, I had called the owners and left a message with their answering service saying when and where I’d be.

    I set up the telescope in the front yard as a test run. I pre-set the camera and checked my field of view. The entire diameter of the moon would be able to be captured. It took about 10 minutes to set everything up. I had put a 1.25” adapter on the camera and mounted it where the diagonal goes.

    The time for the occultation was approximately 11:20PM, so I made sure the car was packed by 9. Then I sat inside and did some reading, caught up on a few e-mails and also kept an eye on the sky. Around 10:15, I left the house and hit the road.

    My observing spot was in a cemetery situated above the town of Sharpsburg. The area itself is dark and hardly ever visited and it is high enough that I would have no problems with seeing Spica and the moon through trees, buildings or power lines. The roads around it were empty, there were no cars going by. I pulled in and started setting up. I was early and as far as occultation watching goes, that is always good thing. The telescope has time to acclimate and there is time to do some test shots and make sure that the focus is proper and locked. The camera is using the telescope as its lens so it has no automatic focus like the camera lens have. It all depended on my aged eyes to get as crisp a shot as possible.

    After taking 5 or 6 shots and making slight adjustments after each one, I tightened the focuser and then stood and watched through binoculars as the bright star neared the moons darkened side. Looking through binoculars I could see Spica but I couldn’t see the nearing edge of the moon; it blended in with the dark sky behind it. I couldn’t see the edge using the preview screen on the camera either. I could only guess how close the star was. I was watching the time carefully but the occultation might happen earlier than predicted.

    Spica is the 15^th brightest star in our night sky. It is located in the constellation Virgo and it lies about 260 light years away from us. Even though it is bright, I still needed binoculars to see it near the blindingly bright moon.

    The timer on the shutter was set for 10 seconds to help eliminate vibrations. I also had placed a small bean bag on the camera to help steady it. As the time neared, I decreased the time between shots. I looked at one shot and the star was clearly visible and then the next shot showed that the star had disappeared! 

To see Spica, you may have to enlarge the picture.

    The last shot with Spica visible was taken at 11:20:53PM, the next shot, after it had disappeared was taken at 11:21:11PM, 18 seconds later. The camera's time stamp was accurate to within a second.

    One thing I think I’ll change for the next occultation is that I’ll watch it through the telescope instead of trying to photograph it. I find that it is much more interesting watching the star disappear in real time. Seeing the star, planet or moon disappear is always exciting to me.

    Everything worked out as planned. I saw one of the wonders that our world presents us. I saw something happen in the sky that very few of the world’s population even knew was happening.

    There are so many treasures hidden right in front of our eyes and all we have to do is look for them! They aren’t all astronomical; waterfalls, flowers, the hills and valleys of our planet, sunrises, sunsets and rainbows. There are also the sounds and smells of our world.  Wind rushing across the fields, through wind chimes and the soothing sounds of water rushing over the rocks. The smells of flowers, freshly baked bread and the rain having just fallen on a hot summer day.  We are so lucky to have these opportunities presented to us. They are out there and they have the power to move us, both emotionally and intellectually. Take advantage of them, they are there for us to experience!

    I was back at home a little after midnight, happy and ready to jump into bed. I had spent a quiet hour under a beautiful night sky. I had watched movement in space; I had watched a star disappear. What a wonderful way to spend an evening!

Catching the Sunset

 Tuesday, 9/5

 With the low percentage of clear nights in the Pittsburgh area sitting high in my mind, I am once again working on an upcoming astronomical event.

    What I am hoping to catch in this project, is a picture of the sun going down behind the Wagman Observatory. There is a house about 6 miles away with a clear view of the observatory. Using a variety of on-line programs and even more important, the expertise of John Holtz, we have narrowed down dates to within 3 or 4 days. On these days, the sun will disappear behind the Observatory as seen from this house.

     Every night the sun sets in a different spot on the horizon. If you were to put a mark on a picture window at the same time every day for a year marking the suns position, you would end up with a figure eight shape, an analamma. The trick is to determine when the sun will set where you want it to!

    Naturally for this project, there are variables. The times for sunsets are figured off of a flat horizon. The observatory sits on a high hill, this could change the time or position of the setting sun. Another variable, an even more important one, is the weather.  I have ranted about this too many times to count. If something is going to occur astronomically, chances are it will be clouded over. I can live with a slight cloud cover; it might lessen the brightness of the sun. The clouds will act as a filter and allow a slightly longer exposure, making the observatory visible in the picture.

    Between then and now, I will make a couple lists. One will consist of all the items I’ll need to bring along with me and the other will be a timeline. By using these I will be able to arrive early enough to allow set up, find the observatory and to taking a couple test exposures. All the necessary equipment will be in the car. Making these lists are part of the fun of events like these, at least to me they are!

    Now, for the next 4-5 days, I’ll try my best not to think about the weather!

Thursday, 9/7

    Waking up, the open window beside me providing a comfortable cool breeze, I am greeted by the low rumble of thunder. Rain can be heard falling through the leaves of the trees. I close my eyes and just listen…and relax. What a nice way to wake up in the morning.

    The only thing that takes away from my relaxation is knowing that rain clouds are working their way across the city. Hopefully they will be gone by Monday…but, I said I wasn’t going to think about that! OK, time to make some coffee and to get the day started!

Saturday 9/9

    I wake up again to the sound of rain. A space station pass is due in a few minutes but instead of dressing and searching the sky, I close my eyes and let the rain carry me back to sleep.

    Later in the day, Ann Marie and I drive up to Wagman to make a couple measurements. I want to get accurate vector angle with my compass so that I will be able to duplicate its opposite angle when we are at the house. (angle +/- 180 degrees) While we are there, we also pick up a few brochures to pass along to the owner of the house; the telescopes, the observatory, star parties and a few publications about light pollution. Then we return home, make a veggie pizza, play some Scrabble and DON’T think about Monday! As the weekend continues, the clouds remain.

Monday- 9/11  The Big Day!

    I wake up at 5 to watch the Chinese Space Station pass through Orion. The sky is clear and my hopes are raised. After watching the pass, I spent some time scanning the sky with my binoculars before going back in and returning to bed. I need to be rested today! There is still a lot to be done.

    As the day progressed, the fog that showed up after I went back to bed slowly dissipated. I try my best not to look up! I made the call to the homeowner and told her we will be coming out and give her an approximate time of arrival. The car was loaded and the checklist was marked as each essential part was put in. Then I sat down and read a book. What better way to distract your mind than by reading?

    All was set and finally, it was time to get Ann Marie and Jim. We arrived at the house about 45 minutes before sunset, just as planned. The telescope was set up and some pictures were taken.

    It was very difficult to see the observatory with the bright light of the sun near-by. The observatory was in the shadows. Using the compass to point the telescope, I managed to find it on the first try! The problem would be, what is correct exposure? Digital photography really helps in situations such as these!

    The sun was getting closer to the horizon though it still hadn’t entered the camera frame. Once it did, I started clicking. Since the sun was so bright, I gave up hoping to see the observatory. The shapes of the trees were the only way I could tell where it was. I took the pictures and would fret over not being able to see the building later.

    Once the sun had set, the family who owned the house came out and we showed their grandson some of the sights around the area through the telescope. Before we tore the setup down, we were able to show him Saturn! He was very happy to see that. (It goes without saying!) After everyone had seen the ringed planet, the scope was taken apart and re-packed in to the car, and then we said our thanks and good-byes. We stopped for a celebratory dinner and then headed home.

You have to look closely to see the observatory in this picture!

It’s impossible to see in this one!

    My pictures weren’t quite what I had hoped for. The trees behind the observatory had foiled the silhouetted shot I had wanted to get, though early into this project, I knew it would never happen. I was happy to find the building from this far away and was happy to get the sunset shot. We were pleased that the weather cooperated with us. Though the picture wasn’t what I had hoped for, it was a learning experience. Maybe the next time with the moon instead of the sun…or maybe we could cut down the trees...the possibilities are endless. We shall see, we shall see!

Waiting for the Clouds to Part

 Sitting on a chair with a book in my hands, I couldn’t help but keep glancing up at the sky. Nearing sunset, the clouds seem to be getting darker and thicker rather than dissipating the way I had hoped. I shook my head and returned to my book.

    This evening brings back many memories and my mind drifted away from the book and slipped back into the past.

    I was sitting outside the Wagman Observatory for a reason. In an hour or two, the moon would be occulting, or covering over, the bright star Antares. This happens every night as the moon's orbit around the earth brings it in front of background stars. They rarely are bright ones like Antares. This occultation could be visible by a person with good eyesight! To watch an event like this through a telescope would be exciting. Watching motion in the generally static sky is always fun to see!

    I was planning on watching through the 11” Brashear telescope. The moon and Antares could both be seen with binoculars at sunset after I arrived, but sadly, the clouds followed me up to the hilltop. Every so often a clear patch of sky would appear only to quickly disappear again. I had to chuckle, it is such a common occurrence here in Pittsburgh.

    “Back in the day” as the saying goes, I used to go on car trips to observe and time occultations, especially grazing occultations! This is when the moon's orbit takes it close enough to a star that it disappears and reappears as the moon's mountains cross in front of it. If you’re lucky you might see this happen more than once. To observe this, you have to be within a narrow strip on the earth. Outside of this strip, you will either see the star miss or else just disappear behind the lunar disc. Positioning is very important!

    John Holtz is the man in the astronomy club who coordinated these excursions. Often we would drive for an hour or more to get to a location. The planning involved looking at topographic maps and locating a spot that could be accurately defined. We weren’t using GPSs in those days. Hopefully there would be a spot to pull off and a flat area big enough to set up a telescope. Along with our telescopes we brought a tape recorder and a shortwave radio so we could listen to WWV to get an accurate time. The results would be sent to IOTA, the International Occultation Timing Association to be added to other reports from other observers.

    Living in the western end of Pennsylvania unfortunately brought a lot of disappointing trips. Clouds and poor weather seem to occur ANY time an astronomical event happens in this area. (I say this with jaundiced eyes.)

Section of a map plotting a graze on

April 2^nd, 1994 around Dorseyville

    For me, the work before an event was always fun. Locating these narrow strips of visibility on maps; defining where the best line and where the outside strips would be, marking the maps and then deciding where I would go was something I looked forward to. In the days before Google Maps, we relied on our “old” maps to define where we’d go. The drive there was fun also, usually in the middle of the night, not knowing what to expect when I arrived.

    After many a long drive, I would watch the clouds drift by with no sight at all of the moon, let alone the star. I’d wait until after the event would have happened before I tore down my equipment, just in case the sky might clear. Then, I’d hit the road towards home again.

BUT, every so often, things would go as planned. The sky would be clear, there would be a nice place to set up my telescope, no cars would drive by shining their lights into my eyes and no policemen would stop by just as the star was disappearing. The radio would catch the time station clearly and we could easily see the occultation. I would drive home feeling victorious! These trips made all the other failures worthwhile. The failures just made the successes that much more exciting!

    Back to the present, the occultation was clouded over. The next night, I was sitting in the same spot. I was with some fellow club members and we were hoping that the clouds would clear up so that our star party could continue as planned. Pittsburgh weather and astronomy are archrivals and sadly the weather is usually the bad guy. In the meanwhile, I sit, read and talk with my friends as we wait for the clouds to part.

The Mid-November Lunar Eclipse

    While most of my neighbors were sound asleep, my alarm went off. It didn’t startle me, in fact I was  dreaming about waiting for it to wake me! I jumped up and went to the front door and took a look outside. Clouds, just as I had expected! This is Pittsburgh and the gods of the weather don’t really like us astronomers.

    It was 2AM on Friday morning. (11.19.21) The entire country would be able to see most of the eclipse which was happening right now! Everyone except those who live around me it seems. The darkest portion of the earth’s shadow would be hitting the edge of the moon’s disc at 2:18. A few clouds didn’t matter; I was going out to see what was visible.

    I got dressed, pulling on some heavy socks and my winter coat and went outside to see what my chances were of seeing anything. Luck was with me, there were breaks in the clouds. The moon could be seen, a bit fuzzy but still seeable. Every so often a clear patch would drift past and the brightness of the moon increased dramatically.

    My camera and tripod were inside the door so I pulled them out and set up in the front yard. I had some difficulty in focusing on the moon since it was most often covered in haze. The camera lens was set at manual focus because of the clouds. I played around with the exposures as the conditions changed. Both the clouds and the shadow which was now starting across the moons disc altered the brightness. A couple of neighbors had their porch lights on but this morning, it didn’t bother me. I was watching an eclipse, not searching for faint fuzzies in deep space!

    The clouds moved across in front of the moon rather quickly while the shadow of the earth crept  across the face of the moon much, much slower. At times, when the moon was covered there would be a reddish colored ring which surrounded it. 

    My hands were getting cold from re-adjusting the tripod every five or ten minutes. It is made of metal and retains the cold quite well! I went inside to get my gloves. This is a benefit of observing from the front yard, I can quickly get the things I forgot!

    A short while before 3 the moon entered a clear patch between the clouds. The patch spread out and soon I started noticing stars. There were stars that couldn’t normally be seen during a full moon. Orion and Gemini could be seen along with Auriga and the Pleiades. I sat on my porch chair and just enjoyed the view for awhile, forgetting about photography and the eclipse.

    The clearing lasted about a half hour or so and then the clouds started moving back in front of the moon. I took a walk around the neighborhood to warm up a bit. The temperature was down in the low 30’s. I enjoyed the walk in the quiet; it reminded me of going out for walks with Red, my dog. We did lots of early morning walks together, he smelling everything and me with my head pulled back, gazing at the stars.

    Back at home I took a few more shots. The eclipse still had a ways to go but the moon was dropping down into the trees on the hill to the west of my house. To continue watching the eclipse, I’d have to move out of my yard.

    In some ways, luck was with me. The clouds covered the moon and I lost sight of it completely. Thick clouds continued to drift overhead, so I went inside to the warmth of the house.

    At 4:02, I went outside to see if anything was visible. This was when the eclipse was covering 97% of the moon, it's maximum. I couldn’t see anything. There wasn’t even a glow in the trees where it would’ve been. The eclipse was over for me.

    Inside again, I wrote a few notes. Looking at the pictures could wait until the morning. Then I crawled back under my covers and fell quickly back into my dreams.

The Unpredictability of Pittsburgh Astronomy

 

Monday evening, the Winter Solstice, was when the two giant planets, Saturn and Jupiter were to appear as close as they have been in centuries. The last time they were this close was in 1623. Both of the planets would be visible through a telescope at the same time! This event which would be visible across the country was anxiously anticipated by amateur astronomers for months if not more. Naturally here in Pittsburgh, the skies were thick with clouds, a little rain and even a bit of snow. It was to be expected! (Don’t worry though; they will be this close again on March 15^th, 2080. Mark your calendars!)

Leaving work on Tuesday night I saw some stars from the parking lot. Once I arrived home they had disappeared once again. (It was just a little tease!) I took my binoculars with me to work on Wednesday, just in case, but by 3PM, the clouds had returned and once again, any possible viewing of the conjunction was thwarted.

Pittsburgh weather has played havoc on astronomy for ages. For that matter, Pittsburgh in general hasn’t been kind to astronomers.  In the last century or two, the large steel mills and their related industries filled the sky with smoke, soot and smog. The facilities were covered with lights which further hid the stars from the residents. But this was man-made and most of them have disappeared. The smog and pollution has cleared up but sadly the light pollution has increased. But that isn’t what I am concerned with right now, I’m thinking about the effects that Mother Nature has on my hobby.

I have experienced this strange phenomenon so many times I’ve come to expect it as a normal rather than happenstance. In the Astronomy Club we often joke about, even going to the extreme of apologizing for getting a new telescope or eyepiece. We know that once we get them, clouds will be following close behind.

When a special event is predicted we can’t help but get excited, looking forward to and planning how we will observe it. Depending on the time of the year, the chances are about 50-50 that we will be able to see it. It rains in Pittsburgh approximately 140 days a year. The National Weather Service says that the city averages 203 cloudy days a year.  Definitely more than half!

One of the most disappointing events I missed was in 2002. The Leonid Meteor Shower occurs in mid-November each year. Every 33 years there is a “storm” as our planet passes through a thick portion of the stream of dust left behind by Comet Tempel-Tuttle.  Being only 10, I had missed the last storm and now, fully engrossed in the hobby I was anxiously awaiting the date.  Clouds filled the sky as night approached but I still held out hope that I’d see something. I woke up around midnight and went outside to a thick foggy morning.  Getting in the car I headed south hoping to drive out of the clouds. No such luck. I had a Ham radio in the car and talked to other amateurs as they told about how many meteors they were seeing. I finally gave it up around 4 and returned to bed, defeated. Later I found that if I had headed north instead of south, my chances would have improved but…the event was over. I missed it.

There have been numerous lunar occultations I have gone to see only to be clouded out. An occultation is when one heavenly body crosses in front of another. Most commonly seen occultations are when the moon passes in front of a star. During a lunar graze, if you’re lucky, you can see a star disappear behind a mountain peak on the moon and then re-appear only to disappear once again. I was lucky enough to see an event where this happen four times. To observe an event such as this, you have to be in a specific spot to be lined up properly. I’d drive for hours to get to one of these spots only to have the clouds following close behind me.  It was often a long shot but definitely one worth taking!

Cloudy Moon/Venus Rise 20.06.19

Space Station passes overhead are often obscured by Pittsburgh weather. The recent Geminid meteor shower was hampered by spotty clouds. A recent Moonrise with the planet Venus sitting right beside it…yup, you guessed it. Clouds.

There will be a total solar eclipse in April of 2024 which will cover a portion of northwestern PA. Anyone want to put any bets on what the weather will be like on that day?

We just live in a spot that isn’t really suited for astronomy.  Google explains it as a combination of lakes and upward moving air which causes lots of clouds. Air that is warmer than its environment is unstable. The unstable air moves upwards in order to stabilize. As it rises it also cools and then forms stratocumulus clouds, the long grey clouds that often cover our skies.

Pittsburgh is a really nice place to live, I have been here my whole life. Sadly it isn’t the best place for astronomy, between the light pollution and the clouds it can be pretty discouraging. Still, every so often there are clear skies and every once in awhile we are blessed with optimal conditions for those rare astronomical events that we all look forward to. The seeing might not be great here but when we are lucky enough to do some good observing; it makes it seem that much better! Keep watching, keep hoping, the clear skies will appear…eventually.

Comet Neowise 20.07.18

As Ann Marie and I were talking about this, she said that it was a good thing that Christ wasn’t born in Pittsburgh; the Wise Men would’ve never found Him, they wouldn’t have been able to see the star!

Speaking of Christmas, I’m sure a lot of people will be getting telescopes and accessories for the holiday and that means… more clouds to come!

Keep searching, the stars and planets are up there…we will see them…eventually!

Merry Christmas!