The Trees are Fixing to Go Deciduous
This morning at 4:30 AM I headed out. The path was well beaten. Even if the path was not well beaten, I could see where I was headed thanks to all the lights shining round about. Yes. When I arrived at the accustomed spot, a new light pollution source afflicted me. A neighbor that ordinarily leaves their back porch light off, left it on. But moreover, with the trees fixing to go deciduous, more light pollution sources beamed from every direction, unblocked by the many kindly leaves that had already given up the ghost.
Jeez Louise!, I thought. This is exactly why star gazing during the winter is well nigh impossible in these parts. Aggravated, yet thinking at the same speed as electricity, I deftly positioned my trusty dolly between me and the unanticipated light pollution source. My dolly, you may see, comes with a towel. A pet towel to be specific. That pet towel not only protects the great red tube against hard knocks, but also may, when draped on the dolly, block some of the light pollution.
This morning the heavenly bodies I wished to espy are situated in the constellation Puppis. Those heavenly bodies are southerly, almost in the constellation Vela. They are numbered in the New General Catalogue as NGC 2451, NGC 2477 and NGC 2546. I observed them in that order too. That is the order they came out from behind the cedar elm which has not gone deciduous yet.
NGCs 2451 and 2477, together with stars d1, d2 and d3 all fit in the finder, barely. However, the stars of NGC 2477 are so tiny that I needed to look at them at over 60x before I could espy those many tiny stars well. Then, after I espied all that I had to wait for NGC 2546 to come out from behind the cedar elm. While waiting around I checked out some more open clusters in Puppis and Canis Major. These were Cr 135, Cr 140, Cr, 132 and M 50, actually situated in Monoceros. M 50 is another one that likes higher magnification.
West of Cr 135 is situated the globular cluster, NGC 2298. I looked for it half-heartedly, suspecting that it is very faint and requires more trouble than it is worth. NGC 2298 does not appear at 30x.
The NGCs 2451 and 2477 are worth looking at twice.
With Ogma arisen and the perils of Halloween, that Druids reference as Samuin, past, I put out my new yard sign. There it is out in the front yard. I can espy it from my window. I need to keep an eye on it. Somebody is liable to steal my sign if I don’t watch out.
The fact is, since I can barely walk, those criminals might steal my sign even if I do watch out. Course, I could shoot those criminals. But that might get me into lots of paperwork. Or, I could take a crutch to those criminals. More paperwork. Jeez Louise!
Times are hard when an average anarchist like me feels obliged to put up a yard sign boosting a democrat.
Jeez Louise!, I thought. This is exactly why star gazing during the winter is well nigh impossible in these parts. Aggravated, yet thinking at the same speed as electricity, I deftly positioned my trusty dolly between me and the unanticipated light pollution source. My dolly, you may see, comes with a towel. A pet towel to be specific. That pet towel not only protects the great red tube against hard knocks, but also may, when draped on the dolly, block some of the light pollution.
This morning the heavenly bodies I wished to espy are situated in the constellation Puppis. Those heavenly bodies are southerly, almost in the constellation Vela. They are numbered in the New General Catalogue as NGC 2451, NGC 2477 and NGC 2546. I observed them in that order too. That is the order they came out from behind the cedar elm which has not gone deciduous yet.
NGCs 2451 and 2477, together with stars d1, d2 and d3 all fit in the finder, barely. However, the stars of NGC 2477 are so tiny that I needed to look at them at over 60x before I could espy those many tiny stars well. Then, after I espied all that I had to wait for NGC 2546 to come out from behind the cedar elm. While waiting around I checked out some more open clusters in Puppis and Canis Major. These were Cr 135, Cr 140, Cr, 132 and M 50, actually situated in Monoceros. M 50 is another one that likes higher magnification.
West of Cr 135 is situated the globular cluster, NGC 2298. I looked for it half-heartedly, suspecting that it is very faint and requires more trouble than it is worth. NGC 2298 does not appear at 30x.
The NGCs 2451 and 2477 are worth looking at twice.
With Ogma arisen and the perils of Halloween, that Druids reference as Samuin, past, I put out my new yard sign. There it is out in the front yard. I can espy it from my window. I need to keep an eye on it. Somebody is liable to steal my sign if I don’t watch out.
The fact is, since I can barely walk, those criminals might steal my sign even if I do watch out. Course, I could shoot those criminals. But that might get me into lots of paperwork. Or, I could take a crutch to those criminals. More paperwork. Jeez Louise!
Times are hard when an average anarchist like me feels obliged to put up a yard sign boosting a democrat.
posted by ray pistrum at Saturday, November 01, 2008
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