Like Watching Paint Dry

 It’s quiet in the observatory. Two dim red lights illuminate the room; all the other lights have been extinguished to help preserve my dark-adapted eyes. The telescope rising from the center of the room appears as a large silhouette against the slight light of the sky. The brass pieces on it reflect the red lights.

    Crickets can be heard, they give the observatory a nice atmosphere. After a short while the noise disappears, fading into the background, becoming a sort of “white noise”. It is there but un-noticed. Listening carefully, far away I can hear a faint whine of some type of machinery, hardly noticed, hardly there.

     Looking through the telescope, the planet Saturn and three of its moons can be seen. Unlike the picture above, the rings are close to edge on and so, appear as only light bars coming off of each side of the planets disc. Occasionally a thin dark line can be seen crossing the planet a slight bit higher than the rings, the rings shadow! A slight bit of shading can be seen at either pole giving the planet a small bit of a 3-dimentional look.

    It is the morning of the 19^th of August, and I am here to watch the shadow of Saturn’s moon, Titan, cross the planet. This is an event that can only be seen when the planets rings are near edge on. The next time these occurrences will be visible will be in about 15 years, so I want to try to see them if possible. There will be five times it can be seen within the next couple months, one has already passed.

    Walking outside the observatory, the crickets are much louder, unmuffled by any walls. The trees and hills are all black against the dim band of light that goes around the horizon, allowing only the brightest stars to be seen there. In the east, the Pleiades can easily be seen, a nice grouping of stars. Orion will be coming along soon, a sure sign that winter is approaching. Below the hill a car slowly drives by and high in the sky, the faint sound of a jet engine announces the presence of a plane passing overhead.

    Back inside, the shadow of Titan can now be seen through the telescope. The moon appears to have moved closer to the planet, it sits above the rings on the right side. The shadow is close to the upper edge of the planets disc. It is difficult to see, I struggle at first to determine if it is the shadow or my imagination playing games with me. With no one else here, there is no one to verify it for me. I increase the magnification and put a filter on the eyepiece and suddenly the shadow and details on the planet’s surface sharpen up. I jot notes in my journal along with poor drawings in an attempt to make sure I remember these things.

    I sit and watch. Nothing seems to be moving but I know that's not true. Some might compare this to watching paint dry. The seeing has a tendency to improve at times, the view gets crisper, sharper, it is these periods I watch for. Slowly the shadow moves across the planet. I occasionally look up at the stars and they quietly gaze back down. Millions of other worlds hang above me. Sitting alone under them helps give me perspective, I’m not as important as I’d like to think I am.

    Sitting at this telescope I can’t help but wonder if somewhere up there, is there another life form looking at the stars above their world and wondering if I exist.

    Outside, the crescent moon, Jupiter and Venus have risen. To the right sits Orion, having just climbed over the horizon. I look through the scope for a bit longer and then close things up. Locking the door I hear some coyotes howling, a couple farm dogs bark back at them. I take a final look at the sky and then get in the car and start my engine. A small herd of deer standing by the edge of the road watch me drive past.

    I have one more thing to do before I go home. I want to watch the International Space Station make a pass overhead. Driving to a favorite viewing spot, I get out of the car and orientate myself. In the east, across a deep valley sits the moon, Jupiter and Venus. To the right is Orion, now much higher than when I saw him last. Right on time, as predicted, the ISS appears. I watch it as it soundlessly touches the upper shoulder of Orion and then slides over towards Venus, passing just underneath the bright planet.

    The horizon is getting brighter; sunrise isn’t far away. I have only another mile or two till I’m home again. It’s been another memorable, peaceful and quiet morning, the type of mornings I yearn for!

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!”

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.

Making Memories

 Thanksgiving is a time for memories. Most often good one, families sitting together sharing meals, visits with relatives and friends. For others it might simply be watching movies or sleeping the afternoon away after a really big meal.

    I’m thankful for the fact that memories are still being made in my family. If I might entice you to come along with me, I’d like to take you back, just a couple days, to something that I know will stay with me for a long time.

    My daughter and her family haven’t been to Pittsburgh in nearly three years. Their oldest child is just over three and he now has a younger brother. It was Thanksgiving and the family was coming out to visit Pittsburgh. Everyone was excited and their schedule was rapidly filling up. Ann Marie and I were anxiously looking forward to our time with them in the days ahead.

    The house had been cleaned, rugs swept and washed, baseboards wiped and shelves dusted. Piles of books and papers scattered around the house were put away and the recently washed clothes had been put in their proper drawers and hung in the closet. If I say so myself, the house looked better than it had in a long time!

    One of the things I wanted to do was to show Mateo, my first grandson, the planet Saturn through a telescope. We both share a love of the planets. While he is only three years old, he knows their names, the order in which they orbit the sun and he feels bad that Pluto has been designated down to being only a dwarf planet. Some children gravitate towards dinosaurs; Mateo has been pulled towards the stars! Of course, a lot of what children find fascinating comes from what their parents present to them, after that, it is their own minds and imaginations which take over. This wise young lad also has a fascination with trains; his parents are leading him well!

    The day was looking great, not a single cloud was in the sky. The house was clean, cookies were cooling on a rack on the kitchen counter and the makings of hot chocolate sat beside them. I went outside and set up the telescope. Night was coming! Now all we needed was “the family”.

    I popped outside a couple times, looking to see if I could locate Saturn. The first time out I could see Jupiter, nestled in the limbs of a tree. Saturn would be further west, unencumbered by branches but unlike its brighter neighbor Jupiter, it wasn’t visible yet.

    Going back out again a half hour later, the ringed planet was visible. I turned the scope and lined it up. There it was, yellowish in color, just a small object in the wide eyepiece I was using, but the rings were visible!  Young children often have a difficult time focusing through telescopes and binoculars. It is something they have to learn how to do, some pick it up quickly while others need to practice. I wanted to present Mateo with the largest view of the planet as possible; a stronger eyepiece was needed.

    Luckily the air was nice and steady; the views with the higher-powered eyepiece looked great. Just as I was focusing on the planet, I bumped the scope. The planet slipped away, right as their car pulled up. The time required to remove two children from car seats gave me the time to relocate and center the planet!

    After exchanging hugs and kisses we took a quick look through the telescope and then we went in for cookies and hot chocolate. (There are priorities!) Mateo said he saw the rings and I’m happy to go with that! Inside, he ran around the house, having fun spinning the world globes. We sat around the table and talked while we snacked. What a nice evening, spending time with people you love, people you haven’t seen in a while, making memories!

    The family had other obligations later on so this night’s visit just a short one. As they were leaving, I moved the telescope over to Jupiter. The planet was a nice sized orb in the eyepiece, bands could be seen crossing its surface and the four brightest moons were in a nice line. Mateo saw them and counted the moons. The telescope was set so that he would be able to easily look into it; the adults had to crouch down a bit. But, this was for Mateo, not us!

    After my daughter’s family had left, Ann Marie and I tore the telescope down and put it away. Even though there were no clouds to be seen in the sky, I was floating on “cloud nine”!  I had shown Mateo Saturn, he had seen the planet’s rings and, he had seen Jupiter and its moons. In reality, to him, I think the most interesting thing he saw was the red buttons on the control paddle. It isn’t important, as long as he remembers the night.

    I can only hope that someday, way off in the future, he will think back to this night and possibly tell his own child about it as he shows them Saturn though his own telescope. Making some more memories!

    One more thing, just before they left after dinner a couple nights later, a train went past. Mateo and I went outside and watched as it crossed the intersection below the house. How’s that for a memorable ending to the visit?

Could the Day be any Better?

 The fall foliage is just past its peak here in Pittsburgh. The recent rains have stripped a lot of the leaves off of the trees and littered the ground with their colors.

    Saturday was spectacular. The temperatures were rising again, and the clouds had all disappeared from the sky. After doing a few chores around the house, it was time once again for another adventure.

    There was a star party planned for the evening and so I did a couple geocaches hidden along the trails in Deer Lakes Park. I bought a hoagie for my dinner and then spent some time in the woods.

    This has been a poor year for star parties. I missed a couple due to prior obligations and a bunch of them had been cancelled due to rain and cloudy weather. Saturday’s party was almost guaranteed, it was going to be good! 

I was the second person to arrive at the observatory. I opened up the Brashear room and prepped the scope for the party. 

    A short while later, Rowen Poole arrived and using mathematics, the setting circles on the scope and pure skill, he found the planet Saturn, while the sun was still in the sky! A line soon formed as people heard we were looking at the ringed planet.

    You always know when a person fixes their eye on Saturn, there is always some sort of exclamation! It is one of the things I look forward to! The kids really enjoy seeing Saturn, many came back numerous times to see it again as the night progressed. It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, the planet looks much better when the sky is dark! The mere fact that we could see it during the day was exciting, how many people can say they’ve done that?

    The other scope in the observatory was showing Jupiter. We couldn’t see it yet, the eastern skies are blocked from where the scope is located. We watched the ringed planet for another hour or so before we had a chance to move it to another celestial object.

    We looked at M-57, the ring Nebula, we observed Albireo to show the color differences in stars and we looked at Epsilon Lyrae to show some close double stars. The Andromeda Galaxy was in the scope for a short while and then we jumped over to Jupiter.

    When the line dwindled a bit, Rowan searched out a few fainter objects. One was a galaxy that I could hardly see yet he found it with no problem. The Brashear scope is an 11” refractor, built in 1909. It doesn’t have any “go-to” functions on it. Finding objects to observe requires knowledge of what you’re looking for, along with the area of sky it is in. Having good eyes helps also!

    The crowds came and went. We saw numerous people at different times. A nice sized meteor skimmed the northern wall of the observatory causing a couple gasps. Two or three satellites were seen during the night. One couple brought up a new telescope that they couldn’t “figure out”. A quick look discovered what they were doing that was wrong, a little tutorial and they were on their way, happy again. That’s what we do here, make people happy!

    A bit after eleven the crowd started to thin, the noise decreased and when I went outside, the members had packed their scopes and were preparing to leave. Most of the public had left also. In the east, the Pleiades and Mars were getting higher and Orion was climbing over the hills in the distance.

    We watched as one of Jupiter’s moons passed behind the planet. There were 6 of us watching, taking turns as the moon got closer and closer to the planet. One of the group was a young girl, about 6-8 years old along with her father. What a great thing to watch at such a young age. Hopefully this will be something she will tell her children about some day in the future!

    The occultation of Ganymede was the final thing we observed. We closed down the room and said our good-byes. There were a couple other club members still observing on the other scope as I drove away.

    Pulling up in front of my house, Orion was higher in the sky. I said good night to him and went in to bed. In the morning when I woke up for Church, he was slipping behind the hill to my west. In the east, in the brightening sky was a thin sliver of the rising moon. The entire disc could be seen, illuminated by earthshine. It was a fitting start to the day, especially after such a nice evening, the night before!

A Chance Encounter

 

        Clouds were drifting through the sky as sunset approached. Overhead I could see Vega. I had hopes for an eventual clearing…so I went to take a nap!

        Waking a bit after 11 I went outside to see a nice clear sky. Jupiter and Saturn were right in my “window”.  My front yard is framed by trees. Saturn was heading towards the trees to the west and Jupiter had just appeared out of the trees to the east. Best of all, most of the neighbors lights were off!

        I set up the scope and aligned the finder scope. My first observation was of Saturn. The image moved in and out of focus a bit as the telescope acclimated to the slightly cooler temperature. It settled down rather quickly and I was treated to a nice crisp, steady view of the ringed planet and its brightest moon, Titan. I was using a 12.5mm Coulter Optical eyepiece which gave me 12X. Before the planet slipped behind the trees I put a doubler on it for awhile.

        When I moved over to Jupiter, there were only three of its bright moons visible. I figured the fourth was either behind or in front of the planet Curious about where the fourth moon was, I consulted The Observers Handbook. I quickly found out that the fourth moon, Ganymede, was transiting across the front of the planet. Best of all, I saw that it was due to reappear in about 12 minutes!

        This is one of the reasons I like to have reference materials close at hand. I could’ve looked this up on the computer but I would have ruined my night vision in the process.

        I went to the telescope and put a Meade Ultra Wide 4.7mm eyepiece in the focuser. This gave me 32X.

        One of the first things I noticed was a sharp black dot near the center of the planets disc. Situated between the two darkest cloud bands, it was the shadow of Ganymede!

        I kept a close eye on the edge of the planet’s disc. As the time neared, (12:36AM) I started to see a bump grow. It increased in size until a little after 12:36, I could see a sliver in-between it and the planet.

        Not long after watching this, I started to tear down my set up. Jupiter was heading towards the trees and my scope was covered with dew. In all I had observed for a little over an hour and in that hour I had watched the universe in motion! As so often when observing you are looking at objects that are set in place. They are so far away you can’t see any movement at all except for the spinning of our own planet. Watching the transit of Ganymede was cool, happening upon it at the right time was lucky!

        After putting my equipment away, I went outside to check if I had left anything behind. The sky was starting to cloud over again. Seems I timed it just right! I returned to my bed because I had important dreams waiting for me!

        (Excuse my amateur drawings, they were taken from my notes)

P.S. The A.A.A.P. is scheduled another star party on September 11th, at the Wagman Observatory! You might want to mark that on your calendar!

Prepping for a Star Party

 

               I’m excited! The AAAP will be holding star parties once again. With the majority of the population in Pennsylvania being vaccinated, the mask requirements have been dropped.

               This will be the first star party in 20 months. Since my retirement is nearing, I am no longer working Friday nights. This will free me up for both nights (July 16 & 17^th) at the Wagman Observatory in Deer Lakes Park.

               The general idea behind a star party is to show the public the wonders of the night sky. Club members bring their telescopes and set them up so that visitors can use them. Guests are welcome to bring their own scopes or just look through the member’s scopes. All the telescopes are there for you to look through, including the two large scopes mounted in the observatory. 

                  I can’t remember the last time I took a telescope to a star party. I do know it has been a long time! I used to go to lots of them. I had possession of one of the clubs better refractors and would set it up near the observatory. I remember fondly people saying that the refractor showed better images than the two mounted telescopes inside the building. Ahh, those were the days. It is always enjoyable showing people the stars!

               Since it has been such a long time since I went to one and dealt with the public, I figured I needed to make up a checklist to make sure I didn’t forget anything I would need.  I also made a list of possible objects to view during the night.

               Forgetting things is something I tend to do very well. There is nothing worse than driving 10-15 miles only to discover that I’ve forgotten the box of eyepieces or the weights used to balance the scope.

               There are approximately 20 days until the first star party. (Depending on when I post this or when you read it) I’ve made up my “to take” list and my “to view” list. Both are subject to change as the dates near. Here is what I’ve included so far:

To Take:

The Refractor

Tripod

Weights

Eyepieces

Binoculars

Flashlight (red)

Log book/ pens

Star Atlas, Observers Handbook & the current Astronomy magazine

Drinks / Snacks

Jacket

Hat

Bug spray

 

To Observe:

    Venus (west) sets around 10

    Mars (west)

    Moon- sets after midnight

    Jupiter (east) rises around 10:30-11

    Saturn (east) rises around 9:30- 10

    Any satellite passes worth noting

    Mizar and Alcor (Ursa Major)

    M81 & 82 (Ursa Major)

    M-31 Andromeda Galaxy

    M-57 Ring Nebula (Lyra)

    Double Double (Lyra) Epsilon Lyrae     

    Double cluster (Persius) after midnight ?

    Coat Hanger Cluster  (in line with Alberio)

    Alberio Double star in Cygnus 

With my list of objects to observe, I try to go for things which will be exciting for novices to see. It is also important to list things which will be visible during the night of the party! No sense listing the Orion Nebula if Orion won’t be in the sky that night.

               Venus and Mars will be in the western sky, setting shortly after dark falls. The moon will be in the sky until around midnight, being about 40% illuminated, it will be a good object to observe. The mountains along the terminator are always fun to look at.

               The planets Jupiter and Saturn are always crowd pleasers, they will be showing up in the east as the night progresses. The moons of Jupiter can be seen to move over an hour or so and the rings of Saturn are always memorable.

I have included a couple double stars and a few other things such as clusters and asterisms. I also included M-57, the Ring Nebula. This can be a difficult object for some to discern since it is rather faint, I’ll save it for later in the night, after the moon sets.

Before the event, I’ll go out in the yard and try to locate these objects. I haven’t done a lot of observing lately and I need to be able to quickly locate these things. It is always tough when someone is standing there, waiting to see what you have in your scope!

I’m anxiously looking forward to these dates. It will be great to spend a night under the stars. This though, brings up another subject, the possibility of bad weather. We live in Pittsburgh and it has a terrible history of bad weather conditions. I always say, “If there is something astronomical planned, the chances are it will rain!” (The picture above was taken during a VERY close conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter. The weather gods laughed at us…) I might have a cramp or two on July 16^th and 17^th, because I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed until then!

If you’re in the area, I hope to see you there!  Mark these dates...July 16 & 17, 2021! Find out more at The Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh web site:

3AP.ORG

I went outside for awhile last night and located a couple of the items on my list. It was a beautiful night, the temperature was perfect for observing. A pair of shorts and an open shirt was all I needed. (That and some bug spray) The stars competed with the fireflies. I saw a couple shooting stars and then got stuck on the items I was observing.  I wanted to just find them and then go to the next but I found I couldn’t help but stick with them for awhile, enjoying the beauty of the night. I saw LOTS of satellites; it seems as if no matter where I’m looking, one will drift through the field of view. Just before I tore things down, I saw a great shooting star, it was slow and bright and right where I was looking. How can you beat that?

Speaking of satellites, I woke up a little before 5 the next morning and watched the Chinese space station, Tianhe-1, go over and then a short while later, the International Space Station following a slightly different path. I watched both until they were lost in the brightness of the eastern sky.

The birds were chirping away, singing their morning songs and I, went back to bed where my dreams were waiting for me.

The Sounds of a Saturday Night Under the Stars

 

                Across the street, a neighbor had built a bonfire in his back yard. His kids were running around and yelling, glad to be outside. I’m sure, a few marshmallows were being toasted and burnt. Down the street a party was in progress. Country music drifted into my yard along with a few laughs every so often. Chances are there was a fire down there also. The air smelled good, like summertime.

                In my yard, I was sitting behind the telescope having my own little star party. Drifting around Orion, passing through the Pleiades and whatever constellation struck my fancy. Thanks to some creative (?) parking of my car, the yard was dark. So was the sky, there would be no moon to bother with tonight.

                Double stars, galaxies, some nebula's and a couple star clusters populated my eyepiece. A couple satellites drifted through my field of view as I sat, amazed at what came through my optics. I had no plan, I was just enjoying the view.

                Even though it was cold, the seeing was great. I forgot about how numb my fingers were getting. I also forgot about any stress that had been hanging over my head, the tensions of the world drifted away as I sat in my front yard and traveled light years into the past.

                While I drifted through the stars, I listened to the sounds of the neighborhood. They were the sounds of normalcy. It sounded great and it made me feel wonderful!  

 

Jupiter is there, click on the picture and look close!

                This morning the time was set ahead an hour so after what seemed like a short amount of sleep, I got up for Church. Before I got there, I stopped at the local cemetery and watched the sun brighten the sky in the east. Jupiter was sitting about 10 degrees off the top of the hill. As I watched, all the stars faded and it became the only thing I could see in the sky. I didn’t see the sun come over the horizon, I had a more important place to be! I did see the results of its appearance though. Bright orange sunlight slowly descended on the wall behind the altar during Mass. 

The day is off to a good start!  It’s Pi Day! I think we will bake a pie today to celebrate.