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| I do not suppose you could a-speed things up? |
Well.....
Monsoon 2023 is all but "over". But I guess it isn't like the flick of a switch, so the weather systems that have been pumping moisture in our direction are taking their damn time calling it a year. The actual rain has pretty much quit, it's the clouds that are dilly-dallying.
As a totally ridiculous aside, I've been trying to convince our local TV meteorologist to jazz up a portion of their outlook. Whenever one of those humid systems come through here, they have the word "moisture" arrowed into the graphic. I've have asked them several times to change that to "MMMMMoisture!!" but so far my appeal has fallen on deaf ears. No one wants to have fun 😞
Admit it, this'd be cool. Amiright?
So, back to astronomy stuff. My official membership to the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada came in the mail the other day. It came with a cool membership packet and a letter from the Prez and VP of the organization. At the risk of sounding uber-nerdy, it was just a little exciting to get this in the mail. Although my wife could not hide her smirk over my enthusiasm. I gave her permission to laugh, since the experience reminded me of Ralphie getting his Decoder Pin from Lil' Orphan Annie.
Counter-signed....in INK!!!
But I had motivation beyond being a "joiner", becoming an RASC member allowed me to take part in categorical observing programs and getting certified for same. Hey I gotta do something!!! My wood crafting skills suck and becoming a rock star quit being an option before I hit 40. Anywho, the programs should be a good way for me to target my hobby in a constructive fashion.
The one I'm leaning towards to start with is the Asterism Program. It consists of 100 objects to observe, sketch and log. Logs to be submitted to the governing rep for consideration followed by the award of a pin and certification. All the programs follow that basic rhythm, followed by pin and cert. Hmmm, shades of Ralphie again.
I got my first two done last week. The first was NGC457, AKA Owl Cluster or E.T. etc. Located in Cassiopeia, it was a fairly quick find and kind of interesting.
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| Nice, but it sparkles more when viewed in the scope |
....okay
I've looked ahead at this list and I honestly have my reservations about how steeped in history a lot of these are. But, I'll play ball.
I planned to go out last night and log some more of these, along with some captures with the planet cam. But the afore-mentioned clouds poured cold water on my jonesing in the evening.
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But I didn't want things to be a total loss. I let myself enjoy a cup of Fall Blend this morning before wrestling my dob outside to catch Mercury's western elongation. It seemed the best time to grab it for a while since we're right on the equinox which'll point that guy fairly high up in the east.
The foggy-looking white section is the horizon
No planet cam for this. I had a very short window between the planet rising and when I had to pack up and start my work day. And there was no moon for me to calibrate focus on, so I had to resort to just my smartphone method. Results are reasonable I guess. Mercury is a very small planet and I'm viewing it through the thickest part of the atmosphere which jumbles up the light waves. It'll be back at this point in its orbit in 87 days, but we'll be right around Winter Solstice which will put the ecliptic on a more southern track. Perhaps in March?
Exposure settings were at minimum, but atmosphere was thick
Full moon coming and cooler temps. So maybe a return to some lunar challenges. Maybe another trip to Oracle also..........?
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