Astronomizing July 13th and 14th

 

It was a good weekend at Pine Mountain Observatory. Friday night, the sky was crystal clear. With a crescent Moon not rising until 2 a.m., it gave us plenty of dark sky to explore. It had been a hot week in Central Oregon, so it was pleasantly warm as well. Clicking on any photo will give you a larger view.

Here's my best Saturn shot from Friday night. I took this through my telescope -- an 8" Dobsonian with the 11 mm Nagler as the eyepiece. I'm still using my Sony Cybershot to shoot through the telescope. That may change soon.



Mars is getting low in the sky. I took a movie through the 24" Cassegrain. You may hear Jim and Eric chatting some. Being low in the atmosphere is what makes it as wavy as it is.

With Jim and Gary outside with me, it made for a pleasant evening where we were able to give more attention to small groups of people. Got the first look at Andromeda this season. So, that was exciting. I love looking at Andromeda.

Saturday night didn't start out very promising. When I took my hike up to the summit. I felt splashes of rain and saw it coming our way.

 
 

I came down the summit and told Eric we were going to get rain. A few minutes later I was yelling up the dome, "Rain! Rain! Rain!" We can't let the mirrors get wet. So he shut the dome and I packed my telescope up.

We sat in the dome jawing and I started playing with the menus on my camera. All the muck cleared up and we had the telescopes going by 11 p.m. The playing with the menus during the rain allowed me to get my first Milky Way shots ever.

 

You can clearly see the Big Dipper over the dome.

We viewed a nova in Sagittarius when the crowd went home. Late nights both nights. Good groups both nights. I was hoping to see the Northern Lights on Saturday, but they didn't come far enough south, so I didn't get to see them. I was very disappointed.

This coming weekend, I'm taking off from star guiding for an adventure with the Husband Unit.

Please note, this blog is now at http://mpaxauthor.com/blog/ and will be there only beginning August 20th.

Martian Snow

Note: Wistful Nebulae is moving to http://mpaxauthor.com/blog/ on August 20th. The website and this blog are the same, publishing the same articles on the same days, MWF.

Did you hear about Martian snow? http://news.yahoo.com/mars-
snowflakes-tiny-red-blood-cells-162342554.html Apparently, the size and kind of dust has an impact on whether it can snow and what the snow will look like.

In sci-fi news, Falling Skies returns to TNT on Sunday nights. Season 2 started off with a bang. Noah Wylie returned from his time with the aliens. Cue Twilight Zone music ... It gives me my alien fix. Yay aliens.

Since I was home all weekend, Husband Unit and I finished watching Torchwood IV. I love this show. I hope there will be a season 5. All's I know is, one shouldn't work with Jack and Gwen. I know some griped that the show was Americanized or something. Shrug. It still surprised me, which is what I love most about Torchwood.

About half way through season 1 of Game of Thrones, too. Makes me want to start reading book 2, but I have so many books ahead of it. Siiigh.


 

On someone else's blog ... can't remember who ... they recommended watching the documentary Dear Zachary on Netflix. I have to second that recommendation. It started out being about a man who was murdered, then became something else, at least twice during the film. It was surprising and gripping, and if you write about crime at all, I think you should see it. That said, have a box of tissues handy when viewing. If you're not moved by the film, have your pulse checked. At any rate, I keep thinking about the story and the people in it.

Well, I'm back at the vet today. I hope to come out intact ... have to get the IV thingy out of her leg. Anyway, still nursing my poor cat. I think if she hadn't of been poked so much, she'd be much better than she is. Siiigh. 

On a side note ... Blogger seems to get glitchier by the day. Maybe it's just me. I can find bugs in computer software / code no one else can. It's quite a talent. At any rate, I can't wait to be done with Blogger. But then I'm in a mood today ...

Wistful News

Astronomy Report                 

Last weekend's astronomy report is on the website: www.mpaxauthor.com  It was a great weekend. Much warmer. Fairly clear.

Thanks To:                               

Jonathan Allen, Karen Elizabeth Brown, Jemima Pett, Paty Jager, and Trudy Schoenborn for the blog awards. I don't recall who awarded me what, and I feel like I'm missing somebody. If it's you, forgive me.


This was one of them: Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript. Go to line 7. Post on your blog or Facebook page the next 7 lines, or sentences, as they are – no cheating

I'm currently working on The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear, which is a departure from all-out science fiction. It's more in the Plantgirl vibe if you've read that. It's womens fiction mixed with contemporary science fiction, later some contemporary fantasy, then a healthy dose of weird. I really like weird.

“I’m beginning to suspect Varren is a twelve-year-old girl, or a very old lady.” Maisy giggled.

That produced a smile from Hetty. If the Hysics transformed stern, practical Maisy into a soft, fun-loving girl, how could playing be bad?

“Then you don’t have to worry that he’s Ken if he’s a she.” Raspberry stretched her arms over her head before settling her fingers on the keyboard.

“I wasn’t worried until you mentioned it.” Hetty sighed, hitting reply.

Wistful Nebulae News         

So last week when I signed into Blogger to check on my posts and give them a look over before they went off, they were gone. All of them. Scheduled, drafts, old, new, all of them. That's part of what the grrr post was about on Saturday. I was actually writing this post and hit publish instead of schedule. But because I couldn't see any posts when signed it, I couldn't delete it. I was also unsure what was scheduled when, so this week had the potential to get really interesting ...

They did finally fix my issue, but I have other issues with Blogger. For instance, I can't sign in with google to follow with friend connect. I have to use my Twitter. Which I think is really moronic because I have a gmail account.

After my temper cooled ... yes, I do have one ... I decided that I'm being an idiot. I pay for a perfectly good website, and maintaining both sites is getting too time consuming. So, I'm going to condense to one, and I'm going to be moving completely onto my website. www.mpaxauthor.com

 Painful as it will be, I believe it is the right choice. Starting next week, I will sync the two blogs, same posts publishing on the same days -- MWF. On Monday, August 20th, I will make the switch to the website only. This blog will remain up to direct stragglers there.

I know not everyone will follow and it will be like starting over, but I need to make the move at some point and I might as well get it over with. I'm waiting until after my next book release -- Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge -- July 23rd. Next week I'll start making plans for the launch party.

Talked to my web guru who gave me the ability to lighten pages as I wish, so the blog on the website will be light gray background with dark text -- similar to here -- from now on.

Spotlight on Venus, Space Opera, and IWSG

JL Campbell is kind enough to host me on her blog today, The Character Depot. I'm discussing the space opera and my favorite TV shows that inspired my love for the genre.

Very briefly, I was able to see the transit of Venus yesterday. Some of my astronomy buddies set up telescopes with sun filters (an accessory I do not yet have) on Pilot Butte, which is just a few blocks from my backyard. So, I hiked the mile up. There was a still a reasonable amount of blue among the clouds, although not warm. I had on a sweater, a fleece, my down vest, and was kind of sorry I didn't bring gloves and a hat. Seriously. It was barely 50 degrees here yesterday.

I got up there, said hello, and got a quick peek through both of the telescopes when the clouds broke. It was really neat. Venus was much bigger than I expected it to be. That peek was all I was going to get. The clouds swarmed in, it started raining, and then ... snow. It snowed on us. I swear this year the observatory season is just cursed.

Anyway, photo taken and provided by Bill Logan, a devoted observer of the sun. He's often at the High Desert Museum or on Pilot Butte, sharing his hobby and his passion. And he sends us all emails on what the sun is up to.

Photo taken by Bill Logan

Here's some photos from my hike ...

Moody skies over Bend, OR, from the top of Pilot Butte.

Juniper berries. Juniper, cedar, and sage, that's what this area grows very well. I must report that it smells just fantastic. Instant air freshener any time I open a window.

A sign of spring braving our crazy weather.



Last, but not least, it's IWSG day. Insecure Writers Support Group is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, writer and ninja extraordinaire. The first Wednesday of every month writers gather to share their insecurities or encouragement and support. It's not to late to sign up if you'd like to join us.

I wasn't sure what to expect with the launch of The Backworlds in early May, but am humbled and deeply grateful for all the support from all of you. The blogging community, you, helped me create a buzz, get Amazon to price match, provided reviews that made me warm and fuzzy, provided me time and space for touring, and also put me in touch with a great editor, who I look forward to working with again.

You helped my work get noticed. 2,000 downloads and growing. Thank you.

You know what else makes me happy? Seeing how many of you are publishing and getting published lately. It's fantastic. It really is. So, congrats to all of you for being fantastic, awesome people. The sky's the limit for all of us if we continue to support each other the way we do.

OK, that got a bit sappy and gooey. But that's OK. You're all worth it.

Now come visit me at Joy's.

No Opening, Opening Weekend

I hear the rest of you sweltered in the US over the weekend. Not us. Friday's weather was so miserable, I had to have the lights on all day, wore two sweaters and socks. It only rained in town, but up at the summit of Pine Mountain there was a raging blizzard.

Because of all the ice and snow, we weren't open to the public. I hope this weekend will be better.

Laura from the Daily Dodo has a book out, 100 Blog Prompts. Available on Amazon and Amazon UK.

Thank you to Tara Tyler for the Kreative and Versatile Blogger awards. An awesome blogging friend, and a poet who often tugs at my emotions. Maybe she'll publish those one day. Yes?

And thanks to Trudy Schoenborn for the Versatile Blogger award, too -- an awesome in-person crit partner, friend, and writer. I try to channel her ability to twist and turn. An amazing talent.

Thank you Allan Douglas for the One Lovely Blog award. We're on a few Triberr tribes, but I met Allan before that. Perhaps on Twitter. He's been a great supporter since I released my free reads last year. A most valued friend.

And much gratitude to Alex J. Cavanaugh for honoring me with the You Rock award. I surely wasn't expecting that. I'm indebted to Alex for showing me the ropes of this blogging business and how to make a splash when launching a book. He's a great guy, a great friend, and a great writer who made me bawl more than any 'girl' book ever did. That takes talent. Another very valued friend.

You can't go wrong networking with any of these folks. You can only go right.

Writing News ...                             

 I want to say a sincere thank you to all of you for your support in launching The Backworlds. Amazon finally price matched over the holiday weekend, so the downloads are flying. It's also now on iTunes, B&N, Kobo, and Diesel.

Reviews are coming in, all glowing so far. :D Most exciting, I've started receiving fan mail via email and Twitter. I have to say fan mail is awesome. Sales of Semper Audacia pick up. My mailing list grows. Folks following the website via email grows.  None of this would have happened without all of you and what you did to help me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Christine Rains! You're to blame for me dusting off an old short story and rewriting it. Deadline for submission is this week ... like I needed another project. But the story and call for submission were so well matched, I couldn't resist. Almost done ...

I continue editing Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge. I'm no longer hating every word, just a few here and there. Sometimes the best fix for figuring out why I'm not loving my work is critiquing someone else's. Oh yeah! That's what I need, too. Funny how that works. In a good way. Anyway, it's on schedule for release at end of July.

I also wrote a tentative first chapter for a novella series to run between releases of Backworlds novels. This subseries will be stories from the Foreworlds, to flesh out my universe more completely. I also wrote a tentative first chapter for Boomtown Craze (and did test covers for both), which will be the sequel after Stopover. I'll include both first chapters at the end of Stopover.

Writing continues on The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear. I set a deadline with my editor. That will be out this fall as planned. Not sure I can get The Augmentation of Hetty Locklear out by the end of this year, but I'll give it my best shot.

This will be my only post this week. I'll be working on all the projects laid out above. I'll back next Monday.

So tell me, what are you up to these days? How are your projects coming along?

Xploring Wistful Nebulae

I have an interview up on Kela McClelland's blog, Teardrops on my Book. Come pop by.


What is a nebula?

Dust. More scientifically, an interstellar cloud of dust and ionized gases. There are nebulae which are remnants of dead or dying stars, and nebulae which are forming new stars.

From dead or dying stars, there are two types of nebulae. One is supernova remnants. A notable example is the Veil nebula in Cygnus. It's not very visible by telescopes unless you have an Oxygen III filter. Then it appears as a greenish smudge in the eyepiece. We don't get the spectacular color the computers add in for the Hubble shots.



The second type from a dying star is the planetary nebula. The final stages of a main sequence star's life (our own Sun will die this way), it's shedding off its gases. Prime examples are the Ring nebula and the Dumbbell nebula.

The Ring appears as named and has a blue tint in eyepieces. Bigger telescopes which gather more light can show a star in the center of the nebula. It's in the Lyra constellation near Cygnus.



The Dumbbell is in the Cygnus constellation. It's a planetary nebula sideways. It appears with a greenish tint in the eyepiece. This photo taken by the camera attached to the 24" Cassegrain at Pine Mountain Observatory.



Prominent examples of nebulae forming new stars are the Orion nebula (in Orion's sword--the closest region of star formation to Earth) and the Lagoon nebula near Sagittarius. Since Orion is a winter constellation, the Lagoon is what I usually show to visitors at the observatory in the summer. The Orion nebula is below it. Both photos also taken at PMO.



There are also H II Region nebulae which include diffuse, bright and reflection nebulae. By definition they contain no well-defined boundaries, which actually applies to almost all nebulae. A nebula can have more than one classification. It can have dark and bright regions, be forming new stars and parts of it may reflect light.

The Swan nebula, also know as Omega, Checkmark, Lobster and Horsehead nebula is a group of newly formed stars. It's also a nebula we often show in the summer, located near Sagittarius.



My favorite nebula is Orion. But since it isn't visible most of the summer (unless I stay up until dawn), the Lagoon is my favorite summer nebula.

OK, my X, Xploring, is really lame. The observatory opens in one month though. So, I'm Xcited, too. It's possible one or more of the nebula contain Xenon, and I'm sure they've all been looked at by X-ray telescopes. There we go, PaX.

The Backworlds Blog Tour May 7th, 2012

 If you'd like to help me get the word out of my next release, The Backworlds, I'd be most appreciative. Sign up below for the launch party, and I'll see to it you're emailed what you need to post up.Will give you a break when AtoZ ends. Post up any time the week of May 7th. And you don't have to visit anybody. The Linky link is so I can be organized.

Sign up is HERE

 2012 AtoZ Challenge hosted by Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird) Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas) Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh) Life is Good (Tina Downey) Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons) Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins) The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence) The QQQE (Matthew MacNish) Author Elizabeth Mueller (Elizabeth Mueller) Pearson Report (Jenny Pearson) No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow) Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp) Coming Down The Mountain (Karen Jones Gowen)


Do you have a favorite nebula? Is my X lamer than yours? Go ahead, you can say yes.

Ultralight Microlace and Vesta

Ultralight Metallic Microlace. So light and squishy, it can rest on the seed heads of a dandelion. It weighs less than one milligram per cubic centimeter, bounces back after compression, and is made of a repeating lattice. It has incredible potential for use as thermal insulation; acoustic, vibration or shock dampening; energy absorption and recovery; and electronic parts. Spaceships? Maybe a space elevator. LEARN MORE

The Dawn mission has been at the asteroid Vesta for several months.


This image obtained by the framing camera on NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows the south pole of the giant asteroid Vesta. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA. Click on the image for a larger view.

Scientists believe their could be ice on Vesta.

Though generally thought to be quite dry, roughly half of the giant asteroid Vesta is expected to be so cold and to receive so little sunlight that water ice could have survived there for billions of years, according to the first published models of Vesta's average global temperatures and illumination by the sun. LEARN MORE

After study is complete at Vesta, Dawn will move onto Ceres.

I love looking at photos of other worlds. They're fantastic. Some of those craters look big enough to hide a Milenium Falcon.

 The Backworlds Blog Tour May 7th, 2012

 If you'd like to help me get the word out of my next release, The Backworlds, I'd be most appreciative. Sign up below for the launch party, and I'll see to it you're emailed what you need to post up.Will give you a break when AtoZ ends. Post up any time the week of May 7th. And you don't have to visit anybody. The Linky link is so I can be organized.

Sign up is HERE

 2012 AtoZ Challenge hosted by Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird) Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas) Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh) Life is Good (Tina Downey) Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons) Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins) The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence) The QQQE (Matthew MacNish) Author Elizabeth Mueller (Elizabeth Mueller) Pearson Report (Jenny Pearson) No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow) Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp) Coming Down The Mountain (Karen Jones Gowen)


That ultra light lattice looks neat. What would you build from it? I'm thinking spaceships. Not surprising, huh? The mission to the Asteroid Belt fascinates me. What new things will we learn?

Dreaming of Summer

I'm being interviewed at Lynnette Labelle's today. It includes an excerpt from Semper Audacia. Pop by for a visit. :)

I really started missing the observatory about last week or so. Maybe a week earlier. We don't open again until Memorial Day weekend. Siigh.

The long off-season is good for me though. I have more time to write. All that wishing gets me thinking, gets put into my stories or ideas for new ones. Like the give and take between planets and moons, I need the give and take of the short season and long off-season.

Here's a photo of M17, known as the Swan Nebula. It's above Sagittarius, looking toward the center of the galaxy. You can see the swan shape, yes? Taken by the camera attached to the 24" telescope.

Here are some shots I didn't share during the season of flora, etc... I love photographing all of nature--what's below my feet as well as what's over my head.

What does winter have you missing?

The Universe in 2011

A video from NASA, an overview of 2011. Looking forward to what 2012 brings.



This week on the website: www.mpaxauthor.com : Talking about sources of inspiration and a video from NASA on Saturn's moon, Enceladus.

Next week, this blog returns to Monday & Thursday postings.

Stopover's Second Draft Done

Despite all the frivolity of the past few weeks, I was able to power through finishing up the 2nd draft of Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge. Right now I'm lining up an editor while putting on a second coat of polish. The third draft won't take too long, as it's mostly detail work and no major changes, and it's the 3rd draft which will go to an editor. Then guess what I get to do? That's right, edit again when it comes back. And again. I went over Semper ad nauseum. I expect that trend will continue. Then comes formatting. I'll be doing paperback this time, too. Busy, busy.

The Backworlds is supposed to go out before Stopover as a freebie. I'm still writing its first draft as I decided to write it in the middle of Stopover. Then Stopover caught momentum, and sometimes I just have to go with what has momentum. Does that happen to you? Write faster me, writer faster. I intend The Backworlds to be a short story, but seems my idea is too lofty for brevity. That's OK, I have a clear idea as to how that one is to go, which should help me finish it up. I'm aiming to have the second draft of it done by mid-February and hope it'll come in under 30,000 words.

Then what? I have to finish up Hetty Locklear's 1st draft, which is about 2/3's written. It'll be a lot of work to get that mess into second draft shape. I'll do it. Seems my life revolves around revisions. Always. Polishing, revising and editing. Anyone else feel that way? Anyway, I hope to release it this summer.

Then what? Sequels for both series -- Boomtown Craze for the Backworlds series, no title for the Hetty sequel but I know what it's going to be about. So, that's something.

My aim for 2012 is to get both of these series going and to concentrate on growing my audience. What are your plans for 2012?

Did you all have a nice holiday? Was good here. Still haven't had much snow, which is really, really strange. It snowed for the first time last Friday night and was merely a dusting. Not the normal bluster of winter this time of year. Not complaining though. I hate driving on ice and snow, so the lack of it is fine with me. I did some stargazing over my break. On Christmas night, in fact. I took Orson Bradbury out in the driveway and looked at Jupiter, then the Orion Nebula. Tested out my new magic eyepiece. :D Awesome.

December 10th Lunar Eclipse

 

I took the above photo at last year's lunar eclipse, also in December.

For North America, the eclipse this weekend will happen as the Moon is setting and the Sun rising. The eclipse will begin around 4:45 in the morning, Pacific time, and will set while in full eclipse.

That part of the sky is tricky for me to see. There's a lava butte in my way. So, if the roads and weather permit, I'll have to get up and drive out to Pine Mountain and watch from Millican Valley ... if I want to use my telescope.

Will depend on the weather. Even if it's not snowing, it's going to be bitter. It's the last lunar eclipse until 2014, however, so I hope I do get to see it.

From NASA:

The Moon's orbital trajectory takes it through the southern half of Earth's umbral shadow. Although the eclipse is not central, the total phase still lasts 51 minutes. The Moon's path through Earth's shadows as well as a map illustrating worldwide visibility of the event are shown in Figure 6. The timings of the major eclipse phases are listed below.

Penumbral Eclipse Begins:   11:33:32 UT
   Partial Eclipse Begins:     12:45:42 UT
   Total Eclipse Begins:       14:06:16 UT
   Greatest Eclipse:           14:31:49 UT
   Total Eclipse Ends:         14:57:24 UT
   Partial Eclipse Ends:       16:17:58 UT
   Penumbral Eclipse Ends:     17:30:00 UT 

For more information see: NASA Eclipse Website 

In other stargazing news, I met up with a fellow star guide up at PMO last Friday night. You can read all about the account at www.mpaxauthor.com/blog/ There are photos I took. Moon images were takend with a new filter my wonderful video gal sent to me. And I finally got to see Orion. Woot!

NASA's Journey Over Vesta

NASA's Journey Above Vesta

Asteroid Vesta as seen by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft.



In case you haven't seen yet, here's what scientists saw of the asteroid passing so close by this week -- this is a different asteroid. So, yes, asteroidmania on Wistful Nebulae today:



Talking about Battle: Los Angeles today on the website: www.mpaxauthor.com/blog/

Flying Alien People

I'm at Jon Mac's Mythik Imagination today, contributing to his Weird Wednesday feature. I adore weird. Such stories fuel my imagination and spark me up with inspiration.

If you want to hear about my latest stargazing adventure, visit: www.mpaxauthor.com/blog/ My fellow star guides and I met up at PMO last Tuesday night (November 1).

And, I'm talking about blogging at Savvy Self-Publishing.

Yes, another busy blogging week.

Aliens are Human, Too

Guest posting over at JL Campbell's blog today. Hope to see you there. :)

So, to alleviate my astronomy withdrawal, I went out last Tuesday with one of my fellow star guides. We met at the bottom of the mountain and set up down there where the hang gliders usually turn off to go up to the other peak. We toughed it out for about 90 minutes. Considering how cold it was, that's amazing.

Although I had bundled up, my fingers and toes protested their numbing experience for two days. No photos. For one, there was no Moon. For two, I didn't even change eyepieces after the first 10 minutes. It was too damn cold to expose my fingers. I thought about snapping a few of Jupiter, but not for long. I couldn't feel my fingers enough to have taken a decent photo.

The sky was amazing. So, clear. The Milky Way just sparkled. Viewed some star clusters in constellations I've never viewed up at the observatory [because they aren't visible up there during the season].

How do you know you really love doing something? The willingness to suffer. I suffered the cold -- it was in the 20's -- to watch stars. And I will again.

I hope the sky is clear December 10th to watch the lunar eclipse. I plan on filming it this year if the sky does cooperate.

PMO Closed

So, yes, the observatory season ended, Saturday, October 1st. It was such a crappy day all day Saturday, we were all pretty bummed that we might not get any sky. It looked pretty darn hopeless, honestly.

The sign says closed. :-(

We got some glimpses of the Moon, and I jokingly said I'd try my Hogwarts spell [which worked once earlier in the season]. It's pretty simple. I flick the fingers of my left hand at the sky and say, "Clouds go away."

We laughed, not expecting it to work. I packed Orson Bradbury up in the car before total dark. Two of the volunteers and I shared 'Cannon', our name for the University of Oregon's 10" dobsonian telescope. Our newest volunteer entertained us with a story of a cattle mutilation he had witnessed -- which I'll tell you sometime soon -- when he was down in Arizona. He just moved up here from there and spent many years working for the National Parks. Yes, we like science, but we also share a like for weird.

Lo and behold, my spell worked. The sky cleared to almost perfection. We looked at all our favorite objects and shared them with the visitors. Our guests went home. I went into the 24 to hang and look through the big telescope the rest of the night. I fought the sleepies to stay up to see Orion and all its splendors. Well, ten minutes before it rose high enough to look at, the clouds came rolling back in. Like a huge black curtain, saying, "Good night and adieu until next May." Siiigh.

Just as sad, I had to return the magic eyepiece [the 11mm Nagler] to the kind volunteer who lent it to me for the summer. I've got to get my hands on one of those. It gave me views through my 8" dob which rivaled the 24". No lie.

At any rate, I did capture some photos of Jupiter through the 24. We didn't have a filter on, like we should have, so the glare made the pictures a bit blurrier than they otherwise might have been. Still, they're not bad. You can see Europa peeking up over Jupiter, a little left of center, looking a bit like a pimple. The red spot is also visible in the large band of red closest to Europa and just above center.

Can you believe I already miss it? I can't. I was so ready for the break, and have been going 200 mph since. Yesterday I had convinced Husband to go out with me last night, but the clear day turned into a cloudy mess. So, we didn't go out. He was able to fix my telrad, and rumor has it the holiday season could bring me a magic eyepiece of my very own. :D

Have a great weekend everybody!

One To Go

This is the last weekend the observatory will be open until next Memorial Day.

Last Friday was so perfect. Absolutely perfect. Warm. Cloudless. Moonless. Dark. Manageable crowd. The sky just took my breath away. I stared at old friends, knowing I might not see them again until May, and spent hours roaming around the sky, just roaming. It was perfect.

Managed to get some shots of Jupiter. Knowing the weather here and turn on the head of a pin, I savored it, knowing another ideal night was not likely to come along this season.

Sunset from the bottom of Pine Mountain looking across Millican Valley toward the Cascades.

Sunset from the summit. Smoke from wildfires made for a terrible sunset Friday night. It didn't effect viewing at all though. Thank goodness.

Jupiter through 11 mm Nagler, blue filter on. Zoom.

All four Galilean moons lined up perfectly Friday night. Not sure of the order, but Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. This was taken through a 25 mm eye piece, no filter.

Saturday was still warm, but the wind howled, driving in a cold front and a parade of clouds. Viewing was hit or miss, the clouds having a fun game of hide 'n seek with us. Still managed to get a glimpse at most objects, but it wasn't as clean of a view as Friday night. By the time we got everyone through to see Jupiter and the summit had cleared for me to think about snapping some photos, the clouds socked us in. Good night, Mary, they said, drawing a thick black curtain over the stars.

Lots and lots of clouds. Boo. Pretty, but boo. Tonight is supposed to be clear and it's supposed to get up into the 80's. So maybe I won't freeze too badly. Tomorrow, the weather says rain. So, tonight may be it.

Thanks to Kathy McKendry of Imagine Today and Tara Tyler of Tara Tyler Talks for the versatile blogger award. Two very awesome bloggers. Check them out.

PS, anybody else having trouble following people? I can from the top, but not by hitting the sidebar widget. Google won't sign me in. Another fun blogger glitch? Annoying if someone has the google connect follow, but isn't on blogger.

Come back Monday for a Semper Audacia party, and enjoy your weekend. What plans do you have?