On Christmas Eve, I went out to LaVerkin to do some stargazing through my 15" scope. It was pretty warm for December although it was hazy. I've never been confortable in December but it has been rather balmy lately. I only stayed till 10:45 pm before driving home. We saw the "e" and "f" stars in the Trapezium. I also found Hind's Crimson star. This star is a carbon variable star and it is one of the reddest "bright" stars in the sky. Also got a peek at the "Christmas Tree Cluster". It was too hazy to see the "Cone Nebula". Debbie
From: Michael Carnes <MichaelCarnes@earthlink.net> Date: 2005/12/27 Tue AM 09:17:37 MST To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] M34 Image posted
Although I guess I've turned into a sissy out here, in my New England days 30 degrees was quite mild. Many school star parties were conducted in sub-freezing weather. It would not be the least bit unusual for a group of folks to observe in single-digit weather. In the Northeast those are the most transparent skies of the year. Here there's so much schmutz in the winter air, you don't need a whole lot of thermal discouragement to just bag it and stay indoors.
On Dec 27, 2005, at 8:43 AM, Joe Bauman wrote:
Don't ruin my fantasy! I always imaging what it'd be like to visit our son in Tucson for a while and do astronomy in the desert nearby! Thanks, Joe
I live in southeastern Arizona and I don't think it's warm enough to stand being outside at night (teens to low 30s). It's better in the summer, but then it's almost too hot. It feels downright weird to be outside at 1:00 am, sweating, with the temperature still being 95 or so.
Joe Bauman wrote:
Beautiful, Deb! But don't you realize it's UINFAIR to take astronomical photos in the winter just 'cause you live in southern Utah where it's warm enough to stand being outside at night? -- Best wishes, Joe
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I also found Hind's Crimson star. This star is a carbon variable star and it is one of the reddest "bright" stars in the sky. Also got a peek at the "Christmas Tree Cluster". It was too hazy to see the "Cone >Nebula".
Yeah, that one's a beauty. It's also known as R Leporis, has a carbon shell and varies over several orders of magnitude. At its brightest it might just get to naked eye visibility in a decent sky. Looks like a ruby, doesn't it?
--- astrodeb@charter.net wrote:
On Christmas Eve, I went out to LaVerkin to do some stargazing through my 15" scope. It was pretty warm for December although it was hazy. I've never been confortable in December but it has been rather balmy lately. I only stayed till 10:45 pm before driving home.
On the day before Thanksgiving I went out with a friend and caught a shallow inversion at 6000 feet. It was clear dry and 27 degrees. It was 5 degrees cooler and very damp just a few miles down the road, so it pays to look for a warm spot in the inversion. We did some Hydrogen beta work that's been waiting for good winter skies. The Flame ngc2024 we brilliant but the horsehead just wasn't there this time. The California NGC1499 was very easy as well as the Witch's head IC2118. Had the best view ever of M74 and M77. A wind came and we packed it in at 11:00pm after 4 hours of viewing. On December 23 went out to Rush Valley. The weather was listed as mostly clear but the cirrus was visable during the day and the jet contrails were very long and persistent. So I only took my grab and go scope. M42 is bright enough to burn thru the cirrus and still be grand even with on 80mm of aperture. Venus was spectacular with horns that circled more than half of the disk. Saturn was worth waiting for but at 10:00pm it was 17 degrees and frost was on everything so we packed it in after just three hours of good dark. Winter time dark sky viewing is fun, better than staying home getting cabin fever. Clear Skies DT __________________________________ Yahoo! for Good - Make a difference this year. http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/
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astrodeb＠charter.net -
daniel turner -
Michael Carnes