Summer approaches and new camera action

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Great capture from the planetary camera


        Went out the other night to get a few more items logged for the Lunar 100. Since the moon was up and it was still daylight, I thought I would take advantage of the situation and work the new camera. It helps to get things set up while it's still daylight, especially with the added footprint of the laptop and a place to sit. Out of an hour's worth of footage, there's a decent minute-forty of the 'flyby': 


        The soundtrack is a recording of an aeolian harp, also called a wind harp. The breeze blows across the strings at tension, creating a very haunting effect. I thought it was really appropriate for anything related to space. 

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        The night of 27 April, there was supposed to be a phenomenon called "Atwood's Flash". From Astronomy Magazine: 

Atwood saw a phenomenon which may be a visual prelude to the well-known ray. He was using his 8-inch Cave Astrola reflector to search for the tiny craters named after the Apollo 11 astronauts when, at 1h13m UT, he saw two rays of light suddenly “flash” into view in Hypatia. The view was akin to being in a dark room when a door suddenly opens a crack, allowing light to stream in. “The light flashed on,” Atwood says, “and stayed on.”

        Now this was supposed to happen at a very particular time and date. On April 27, it was to take place at 03:30 UT. I spent a goodish amount of time: 

  1. Calculating how Universal Time converted to Mountain Standard
  2. Finding the damn crater
  3. Wrestling with my scope. Since the moon was nearly straight up, the optical tube was obstructed by the RA control on one side and a tripod leg on the other. 

        Since Arizona does not convert to DST, I wasn't sure about what time this would happen. So I figured on watching at both 1930 and at 2030. Then I began the process of finding the crater. My virtual moon atlas has been a big help, but the item at #3 was hindering any consistency. I finally managed to get a clear enough view to snap a quick picture: 


        The sun's rays were supposed to suddenly burst through a 'breach' in this crater, creating an interesting light show. I saw no such thing, but again I was banging the OTA back and forth and as you can see, the crater doesn't exactly jump out. Sounds like it was a serendipitous occasion for Mr. Atwell. 

        A few nights later, I got back out and worked with the camera again. After dark I also managed to log the aforementioned items for the Lunar Challenge. The night's log is here: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tEglPg5GV_xRfa67qJAr9mpTM8pY6GfB/view?usp=sharing

        The moon will start waning in a night or two, allowing me to maybe grab a few more items for the challenge before the sky darkens again. The new moon is on the 18th, and it seems another trip to Oracle is in the offing. In the meantime, I'll traipse around the sky and re-observe some items and maybe get a decent picture of the Hercules Cluster for once. 

        We're racing towards the solstice as meteorological summer approaches, but summer is already here in Tucson. The pool is open, the suntan lotion is in the bag and Leinenkugel has a great summer shandy. Again, I'm very fortunate to be living here right now with the earlier sunsets afforded to us by remaining on standard time. There's a movement to make DST permanent but I hope it doesn't happen. Daylight Saving Time is a lie, and there's nothing wrong with night.

"Flyover" session log: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19zf7cIyQd7rQ4au7Hi8qxe8mUQAu9JhU/view?usp=sharing


Support dark skies: https://www.darksky.org/

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