Redolent with Fret and Pollution
That describes last night’s atmosphere. The sky looked fairly clear to the naked eye, and it smelled fairly clear, but closer inspection employing higher god or goddesslike powers revealed the truth. For example, Leo’s galaxies were all but invisible.
Galaxies, schmalaxies. This average amateur astronomer had bigger fish to fry. Bigger fish to fry? What a bad metaphor that is! The moons of Saturn are no way bigger than those mighty yet unobtrusive galaxies. They are in fact, comparatively diminutive, yet much closer to the miserable reality here on Planet Earth.
Turns out, the Sky and Telescope home page currently features a Saturn’s Moons Javascript Utility. The utility shows the location of five of Saturn’s brightest moons. Possibly the five brightest. The dimmest of the featured five is 12th magnitude. The dimmest one's name starts with an E. It might be spelled Enchilada.
Out I went in search of the Moons of Saturn. Employing various ep, barlow, and filter combos, I could espy four moons with the 10" Newt. I suspect the elusive, missing fifth moon was Enchilada. Enchilada orbits pretty close to Saturn and it may have been obscured by the Saturn glow. I may need to try for Enchilada in the big Mak, or try again on a better night.
Anyhow, I am happy that I have espied four of the Moons of Saturn. Up ‘til last night, I had never knowingly espied more than one, Titan. So I made some spectacular personal progress.
Personal progress is not to be confused with personal growth. Actual personal growth ends when one reaches ones biological maximum size. After that, one only gets fatter, maybe. However, many may believe in personal growth in a religious or psychological sense. Goddess help those many fools for they are in danger of rotting in Hell forever.
Galaxies, schmalaxies. This average amateur astronomer had bigger fish to fry. Bigger fish to fry? What a bad metaphor that is! The moons of Saturn are no way bigger than those mighty yet unobtrusive galaxies. They are in fact, comparatively diminutive, yet much closer to the miserable reality here on Planet Earth.
Turns out, the Sky and Telescope home page currently features a Saturn’s Moons Javascript Utility. The utility shows the location of five of Saturn’s brightest moons. Possibly the five brightest. The dimmest of the featured five is 12th magnitude. The dimmest one's name starts with an E. It might be spelled Enchilada.
Out I went in search of the Moons of Saturn. Employing various ep, barlow, and filter combos, I could espy four moons with the 10" Newt. I suspect the elusive, missing fifth moon was Enchilada. Enchilada orbits pretty close to Saturn and it may have been obscured by the Saturn glow. I may need to try for Enchilada in the big Mak, or try again on a better night.
Anyhow, I am happy that I have espied four of the Moons of Saturn. Up ‘til last night, I had never knowingly espied more than one, Titan. So I made some spectacular personal progress.
Personal progress is not to be confused with personal growth. Actual personal growth ends when one reaches ones biological maximum size. After that, one only gets fatter, maybe. However, many may believe in personal growth in a religious or psychological sense. Goddess help those many fools for they are in danger of rotting in Hell forever.
posted by ray pistrum at Wednesday, March 18, 2009
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