It's a Beautiful Morning

The cold front last evening brought more than seasonably appropriate temperatures - the skies this morning when I stepped outside at 6:30 AM were crisp and delightfully transparent. Scorpio was climbing above the neighbor's roof with Jupiter flanking Antares to the north. Normally I can just about make out the head when this constellation transits, but here with the first glow of dawn approaching I can easily see down to 3rd magnitude as evidenced by sigma Scorpii. It's clearly one of those somewhat rare skies of excellent transparency.

As I turn to unlock the car a bright, slow & steady moving light cuts a path to the northwestern horizon - clearly a pass of the International Space Station sporting its newly equipped solar panels. I wait and watch, anticipating that it might enter the unseen Earth's shadow but it's claimed by the treeline first.

Beginning the first leg of my morning commute along the beltway the eastern horizon is deeply exposed. And there in the deep blush of the dawn is an incredibly thin crescent Moon less than two days from new. The road curves north and it slips from view. By the time I turn South toward DC the unseen Sun has changed the skyline hue from burnt orange to a cheery yellow which camouflages the lunar sliver.

It's been a great start to the day - and I wonder how many others have taken note of the celestial show this morning?

Soul Sounds

Got the opportunity to spend a little time on the back deck with the "yard sale" scope this past week. While observing is predominantly a visual activity there's also the auditory aspects of the evening that can be special as well.

Last night I was quite surprised to hear the distinctive call of an owl from the woods in back of our home. It was a shock simply because in all the hours and hours I have spent in the evening air of Towson I've never heard one before. It was a sound that immediately brought a connection with observing from Tuckahoe park during a DSG star party where we often hear them calling in the distance. It also was encouraging to think that perhaps the local environment is now more hospitable to them.

The other interesting moment was hearing the clock tower at Towson University (nee Towson State Teachers College) chime the 8pm hour. It immediately brought back a flood of memories - as kids the chimes of that clock tower were as constant as the sunrise. Lying awake on a late summer night and hearing the clock toll the hour, depending on it to be home for dinner on time while playing with your friends - it was an integral part of growing up. But then somewhere along the line, amid the school's frenzied expansion, the charm of the clock tower's bells fell silent, perhaps intentionally or through budgetary neglect. It was like running in to an old friend and reminiscing about growing up.

How amazing the connection between our senses and our soul, our memories!

Stellar Flimflam

Just when I think they've gone out of business, there they are on the radio again - the "International Star Registry", offering to let you name a star in honor of a loved one for the unheard of low price of $54 (of course, if you really care to send the very best you can spend $139.00 plus shipping and handling for the ultimate star naming package). True adherents to Barnum's "there's a sucker born every minute", these folks offer to give you a certificate declaring that some obscure star in the heavens is named after you. Of course somewhere in the small print it's stated that no one really will know that it's "your" star - they'd be locked up for fraud if they didn't.

Why should I care? Because as an amateur astronomer, when doing street corner astronomy or outreach, we inevitably come across someone who has purchased a star and wants to see it. We're left with two choices - perpetuate the illusion or break it to them gently. I'm left to clean up the mess. So when the holidays come and these hucksters emerge from the woodwork hawking their modern day snake oil my stomach tightens into a bit of a knot.

Do me a favor - if you know anyone who's even thinking about doing this folly - please enlighten them their $54 really will mean more if donated to a worthwhile charity in the loved one's name rather than purchasing a piece of paper from this outfit.

2007 Resolutions

Time for the annual exercise of self assessment that we've come to know as "New Year's Resolutions"... although for a lot of us it might as well as be April 1st. Why do it? Well I guess because there's that little voice inside urging us to become a better person, and we inately know that we can't judge our success without objectives. So here are some things I'm hoping I can accomplish in 2007 (not necessarily in order of probability or importance!)

1) Get a passport. No, I'm not a big international traveler - quite the contrary. But with the fact that it now requires a passport to even visit Canada I want to have one in the drawer ready to go.

2) Pass another .NET exam. Got to keep staying abreast of the technology, especially given the age discrimination that exists in IT for anyone over 50.

3) Transfer at least one VHS to DVD. We have these family VHS tapes with precious memories lying around. Time to figure out how to get them converted for posterity.

4) Do at least 36 observations in 2007. I've allowed my scope to slide into mild disrepair and inaccessibility due to "lack of time". I know I can not get to starting digital imaging like I would like to but I can certainly carve out the time to get the equipment functional and taking me to inspiring vistas once more.

5) Take a vacation this summer. Last summer ended up being shortchanged by the job changes - can't allow that to occur again this year hopefully!

Now there are lots of other things I could put on the list - painting the living room, straightening the basement, waterproof the porch, etc. But those things, while needed and might happen, are not really inspiring or necessarily gratifying.

Well that's my list - we'll see how I've done come next Dec 31st!