Re: [Utah-astronomy] Clear Skies
I agree. Maybe storms flush the pollution out of the air. I too was awestruck by the sky after the storm. Last night I stood outside the house loving every second. If it hadn't been so cold I would have dragged out my telescope. Venus and Jupiter were especially gorgous, and for once the full moon just seemed a nice addition. It was lovely to see the moon so close to Jupiter. -- Joe
Checking my observing log I see that last night was the first full night in this area with no clouds or inversion since 6 January. I had my observatory open until 5:30 this morning. Felt good to be at it again (despite the full Moon). Looks good for tonight, too. Patrick Joe Bauman wrote:
I agree. Maybe storms flush the pollution out of the air.
I too was awestruck by the sky after the storm. Last night I stood outside the house loving every second. If it hadn't been so cold I would have dragged out my telescope. Venus and Jupiter were especially gorgous, and for once the full moon just seemed a nice addition. It was lovely to see the moon so close to Jupiter. -- Joew
Darn, I saw that my finger hit an extra letter after I signed that last note, as happened in an earlier note. I didn't deliberately sign the first "Joee" or the second "Joew" -- I'm typing too fast, I guess! -- just plain Joe.
This afternoon I reclined in a low beach chair and looked at the sun with 20x80mm binos & solar filters (the pair of big sunspots is just about at the limb). What a glorious day. Tonight should be better than last night, no straggling clouds behind the front. I think some of my fellow "old timers" will agree that it's usually the second night after the front passes that has the best skies. C. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search - Find what youre looking for faster http://search.yahoo.com
Got out again for a couple of hours until the moon chased all the good stuff away. What a great feeling to look through a scope again!
This afternoon I reclined in a low beach chair and looked at the sun with 20x80mm binos & solar filters (the pair of big sunspots is just about at the limb). What a glorious day. Tonight should be better than last night, no straggling clouds behind the front. I think some of my fellow "old timers" will agree that it's usually the second night after the front passes that has the best skies. C.
__________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search - Find what youre looking for faster http://search.yahoo.com
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com
I guess one of the benefits of 30 years in New England is that last night wasn't cold at all. Not even glove weather. Got first light on my new (well, old really) Dob. The post-storm skies were very similar to situations in the East. Transparency was good but seeing was mediocre. It appeared that high winds aloft were causing too much turbulence. Still, a couple of ours with a scope are hours well spent. Michael
I too was awestruck by the sky after the storm. Last night I stood outside the house loving every second. If it hadn't been so cold I would have dragged out my telescope. Venus and Jupiter were especially gorgous, and for once the full moon just seemed a nice addition. It was lovely to see the moon so close to Jupiter. -- Joe
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com
Hi Friends, here's another closeup by Opportunity, one of the more recent views by the microscopic imager. You'll see this time and again in pictures of "blueberries": They are roughly symmetrical, with a sort of point at top and seams running down the sides. Sometimes they are elongated. You can see what I'm talking about a bit more clearly if you use your photo manipulation software to darken the image and increase contrast. Frequently these things are on stalks, possibly due to material weathering away under them but maybe the stalks are part of a growth cycle. Sometimes the stalks are quite dramatic. Anyway, I am not giving up on the idea that they could be strange lifeforms, that are difficult to recognize as life becuase they're so alien. The closest I can come to an Earth analogue is fungus, like mushrooms, or plants like succulents. Sometimes they remind me of primitive animal life like echinoderms (sand dollars are the remains of echinoderms). Here are views of living sand dollars. http://www.seashells.org/identcatagories/naturalsand.htm Anyway, take a glance at this interesting image from Opportunity: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/m/039/1M131648550EFF0544P2953M2... Best wishes, Joe
participants (4)
-
Chuck Hards -
Joe Bauman -
Michael Carnes -
Patrick Wiggins