The Christmas Eve Cruise- 2020

 

The Christmas Eve Cruise-2020

                The weather forecast was rather ominous; rain most of the day and then dropping temperatures leading into snowfall. The weather gurus were warning about travel problems and slippery roads. The bad conditions were due to start around 7 in the morning.

                Ann Marie and I had been thinking about taking a drive. Even though it might be a miserable day, we thought it would be nice to get out of the house for awhile and take a cruise in the car. We could do that and still remain “safe”. We decided to head north to the town of Franklin.

                The morning dawned with rain falling. The roads were wet but the temperatures were in the mid-40’s. The weather prognosticators had pushed the freezing temperatures and snow squalls back so things looked good for a drive. We were on the road by 9:30.

                In the second county we visited, Butler, we stopped to pick up a couple cups of coffee because we all know that a long drive always goes better with some hot coffee! The coffee was weak, I think there might have been some caffeine in it but I’m not really sure. It was served in a coffee cup so it must’ve been coffee...it was hot and it had a slight taste of coffee so I’m pretty sure that is what it was. (sigh)

                We stopped alongside the road about 8-10 miles out of Franklin to try and locate a Heron rookery. (also called a Heronry)  The last time we had been here it had been snowing, the road was covered and we turned around before we reached Franklin. We pulled over to try and find the tree covered with nests but we couldn’t see any more than 10-20 feet. Everything beyond was white. We didn’t stay long.

This year we were able to locate it. About 100 yards away from the road it almost looked as if the tree had flower blossoms on it. Dark objects sat near the ends of the limbs. With the binoculars we could see that they were bunches of sticks, nests hanging on the branches. There were no herons around. Most herons migrate to warmer climates during the winter. The tree has been their northern home for many years. Some of the older nests can be as large as four feet across and just as deep.

                After finding the rookery we continued into Franklin. The rain let up a bit giving us the opportunity to walk around the main part of town.

 We window shopped and got a couple cups of REAL coffee for the trip back. We had packed a couple sandwiches and ate them in the car. (Ham and cheese on 7 grain sour dough bread) We took Rt. 322 over to Brookville driving through Clarion on the way. A quick stop alongside the Clarion River to admire the fog gave us another chance to stretch our legs. The rain sent us back to the car quickly. In Brookville, we drove through the center of town but the rain kept us in the car.

Interestingly enough, Brookville is the county seat of Jefferson County. Franklin is the county seat of Venango County and Clarion is the county seat of Clarion County and to round it out, Butler is the county seat of Butler County. Our journey took us past Kittanning, the county seat of Armstrong County but we didn’t actually drive through it. We should have driven through Pittsburgh to add Allegheny County to the “County Seat” list. In all we passed through six counties on our journey.

                We nearly ran out of gas near Freeport. We had been watching the gas prices and the stations nearest to home were the cheapest. I just happened to look at the gas gauge and saw we had about 20 miles of gas left in the tank. A stop at the next gas station fixed that problem. Home was about 25 minutes away. We got back home around 3:30, the temperatures were still in the 40’s. The rain had increased but we were still snow free. We had traveled about 206 miles.

                It was five or six hours of watching the Pennsylvania scenery slip past our windows. The troubles of the world were left behind, just Ann Marie and me, warm and dry enjoying each other’s company. Listening to Christmas songs on the radio and sometimes singing along with em. What a nice way to spend Christmas Eve!

 

 

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!