Re: Her in the Sky

On Jul 14, 3:44 pm, "Yowie" <yowie9644.DIESPAM...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Even before I knew the word 'witch' or 'pagan' I used to talk to the moon
(and Antares, my favourite star), have always looked out for Her in the sky.
My Full Moon ritual is barely a ritual, but I've shared it with the Yowlet,
and now we both go out and howl and the moon when She's at her brightest.
I've always been innately aware of her Cycle, and would be at a loss without
Her in the sky.

Last night was the first clear and not bitterly-cold-and-howling-a-gale
night since I got my telescope. Its a crappy telescope, I admit, barely
better than binoculars, but it was free, and I've wanted but haven't been
able to afford one since, oh, I don't know, for as long as I've been talking
to Her in the Sky.

I started off trying to get a view of Jupiter, but gave up in frustration
after an hour or so. After another hour or so of cursing and muttering about
bad design, I finally got my first ever glimpse of Her under magnification.
I was astonished, astounded and more deeply in love than ever.

After fiddling with the eyepieces some more, I settled on 'medium'
magnification (and sorry, i don't know what magnification it was, I don't
know about the technical side of the telescope) - high magnification didn't
allow a stable enough image, with the wobbly tripod and worn out mounts.
But medium magnification allowed me to see the craters, and the seas,
allowed me to watch contentedly as she slowly 'sailed' past my little
viewing aperture.

Joel dragged me in at 11:30pm and told me off for staying out so late on
work night and for being out in such frigid temperatures with just t-shirt
and jeans. I had not noticed the time pass, nor the temperature drop. I am
in love all over again.

Yowie

--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.

The media where I have lived and live now are always full of 411 re
which star
or planet is not too far away to be viewed with mechanical aids - or
not. Viewing
much better down in south FL - clear, starry skies majority of time -
especially
in winter; Here heavy cloud cover ruins everything. Check your
newspapers for
similar info on what to look for, they even tell you *where* to look
for it; I like
astronomy and as you, pointed out signif stars we could see to my kids
-
Orion's belt, Pleiides, the seven sisters; the North Star, so famous
for travels
w/o compasses years ago;meteor showers, if you ever get any, also fun
to
watch for your boy.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Moon to Sweep Through the Pleiades (Forwarded)
    ... That evening, if the sky is clear, you can watch the waxing Moon ... And if you have a telescope, now is certainly the time to get it out. ... the edge approach a star until the star seems to hang right on the edge, ...
    (sci.space.news)
  • Three Planets Bunch Up in Twilight (Forwarded)
    ... The brightest light shining there is Venus, the "Evening Star." ... These three planets will form a remarkably tight bunch from June 24th to 27th, appearing close enough together to be covered by your thumb at arm's length. ... Accompanying this release is a series of daily sky scenes that illustrate what to look for in the fading twilight on any date. ... But even during and after impact the comet is expected to be faint, and telescope users will need to use a detailed star chart to locate it. ...
    (sci.astro)
  • Moon to Sweep Through the Pleiades (Forwarded)
    ... That evening, if the sky is clear, you can watch the waxing Moon eclipse, or "occult," a number of stars in the Pleiades cluster in the western sky during and after dusk. ... And if you have a telescope, now is certainly the time to get it out. ... Eventually, with a little luck, you'll see the edge approach a star until the star seems to hang right on the edge, like a tiny white fire on the Moon. ...
    (sci.astro)
  • Re: Starhopping, star-strolling, and star-drifting?
    ... The PAL method works best in conjunction with a dark sky ... naked-eye limit) atlas. ... One then finds the same star pattern in the ... finder and primary telescope. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: aperture and magnification gain puzzle
    ... > It is mentioned in Rutten Telescope Optics that as contrast ... > get lowered in an object, one must increase the magnification ... It means that when you observe in the best dark sky, ... or the Andromeda Galaxy through binoculars or a telescope. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)