23 & 24 August 2013

I can't remember the last time I did any observing from TotL or even did any serious observing. It was clear this weekend so I was out both Friday and Saturday.

On Friday I was out alone. I started out at TotL_E for the Sun and Venus and also got Saturn and a bright ISS pass from there.

I moved to TotL for the bulk of the night and picked up M7 in Scorpius. There was an Iridium flare that I missed. It was faint and must have been behind the trees. Within a minute there was another ISS pass.

I finished off the night at TotL_W where I observed the Moon.

Saturday night I met Peter at TotL_E for Venus and Saturn. We missed an Iridium flare from there due to me not having an alarm set. We were right under a street light so once the sky got dark enough that it wasn't worth observing Venus any longer we moved over to TotL where Peter concentrated on the globular clusters in lower Sagittarius and I worked on open clusters over the top of the teapot. I also found Neptune tonight. When the sprinklers came up we moved over to TotL_W for some nice views of the Moon.

1 August 2013

The Mystery of Meteors by Eleanor Lerman I am out before dawn, marching a small dog through a meager park Boulevards angle away, newspapers fly around like blind white birds Two days in a row I have not seen the meteors though the radio news says they are overhead Leonid's brimstones are barred by clouds; I cannot read the signs in heaven, I cannot see night rendered into fire And yet I do believe a net of glitter is above me You would not think I still knew these things: I get on the train, I buy the food, I sweep, discuss, consider gloves or boots, and in the summer, open windows, find beads to string with pearls You would not think that I had survived anything but the life you see me living now In the darkness, the dog stops and sniffs the air She has been alone, she has known danger, and so now she watches for it always and I agree, with the conviction of my mistakes. But in the second part of my life, slowly, slowly, I begin to counsel bravery. Slowly, slowly, I begin to feel the planets turning, and I am turning toward the crackling shower of their sparks These are the mysteries I could not approach when I was younger: the boulevards, the meteors, the deep desires that split the sky Walking down the paths of the cold park I remember myself, the one who can wait out anything So I caution the dog to go silently, to bear with me the burden of knowing what spins on and on above our heads For this is our reward:Come Armageddon, come fire or flood, come love, not love, millennia of portents-- there is a future in which the dog and I are laughing Born into it, the mystery, I know we will be saved

Quite coincidental to the time of year I am about 1/3 of the way through The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars by Christopher Cokinos. Both the science and history are interesting but I am getting tired of reading about Cokinos' divorce.