Coronavirus will end...

We observed the pink Supermoon this evening with 8 power & 20 power binoculars & the spotting scope. Observed low on the eastern horizon, the turbulence was less than normal, altho there was some haze (which did give the Moon, an "imagined" shade of pink). Almost but not quite a full Moon, the 53 power eyepiece showed large craters at a steep angle on the edge of one side of the Moon. As a jet plane was coming over the Cascade mountains in the gathering darkness, I could track & see landing light details on the plane. Turning on final approach to its landing in Seattle, I caught the plane AND the Moon in the same view, at the extremes of the eyepiece field of view.

 

Looking at things around the neighborhood. Saw a dove carrying a stick into an evergreen tree. Doves have been trying to establish themselves in the neighborhood the last 3 years, despite the additions of another two concentrated housing projects. Hope the doves are victorious. With all the building, bobcats & cougar have been spotted as their territories are destroyed. Of course, they are NOT spotted now.
Been watching Venus with the spotting scope, catching up with the Earth, in its inner orbit around the Sun the last 3 weeks with the spotting scope. Venus appears larger now, & becoming more cresent shaped, as it slowly inserts itself, further & further, between the Sun & Earth. Actually, Venus isn't "slowly", because its gaining on the Earth by 3+miles per second.
A bit more than a binoculars' wide field of view distance from Venus, below & right, is the Pleiades star cluster. Even in a light polluted area, the binoculars show the Pleiades pleasingly. However, in a dark sky site with a large telescope, the Pleiades burst with beauty, even revealing the nebulosity that the stars are passing through now.
Was looking at Mizar & Alcor, the minimum seven star orbiting system (determined by spectroscopy) in the handle of the Big Dipper. Mizar itself, optically shows as a sweet double star. Tho the two stars look close (even with 53 power), their minimum distance apart is ten times the distance between our Sun & Pluto. Two old reports describe the pair as a brighter white star & a dimmer whitish star with green or emerald cast. Tho my spotting scope isn't the best (got it used with a small tripod & 53 power eyepiece for $30), the air was steady last night & the scope did show them as a white star & a white-greenish star. So with good conditions & care, my $30 wasn't wasted. The reason I mention the colors is that green stars are less readily apparent than other colored stars. Between my cataracts & low end scope, I guess I'm still good to go. I'll have to talk to my eye doctor next time I see her. Also, I'll try to look at other double stars.
Betelguese, which has been notoriously dim for 6 months, is back to normal brightness, after two light varying cycles for the star, coincided at their minimum brightnesses. It looked very nice in the spotting scope.
Lower in the sky, some people say, Sirius (brightest apparent star in the sky) can look nicer in smaller scopes, because more turbulence is intercepted in the light path of large telescopes. In the small old spotting scope (without the latest light-transmitting multi-coatings) & lots of light pollution, Sirius looked OK. But, in the past I've seen Sirius in big "light-bucket" telescopes & it can look dazzling.

 

Was using the 53 power spotting scope last night. Venus continues to grow larger in the scope, as it gains on the Earth with its shorter inner orbit around the Sun & extra 3+ Miles Per Second speed. Its crescent is sweet to see, specially since I've been mentally comparing its change in shape over the last month. Tried to revisit Mizar & Alcor. But, its getting higher in the sky. My little scope has a small terrestrial (not astronomical) tripod, not set up to view high overhead objects. I could have probably observed it with some twisting, but my bad back might not like that position at all. Seldom examined individual stars in the past. But, with this small terrestrial scope & the light pollution, seeing the brightest stars is a treat, as they show off, pouring out their razzle-dazzle light. Normally, I twiddle, looking for the very best focus. But last night, I hit a focus sweet spot that seemed very nice. For an hour, I never needed to adjust the focus, even as I moved from one celestial object to another. Venus, Sirius, Betelgueuse, Rigel, the Belt of Orion, the Pleiades, the Hyades, Arcturus, others..... all seemed sharp, with no need to twiddle. Noticed one dim double star inside the bowl of the Pleiades, that was enjoyable to watch. It may have been Beta 536. Supposed to be 8.5 & 8 magnitude stars, separation 39 arcsec. In the light polluted sky with the small telescope & my cataracts, I'm surprised they were so nice. I'll have to confirm that with someone.
Saw a star three fists or more roughly south of Arcturus. Figured it was Spica in the constellation Virgo. Was rummaging around in the Celestial Handbook, & came across Gamma Virginis, a double star. In its orbit, it has been too close to split with small telescopes for years. But, this year, efforts to split the pair should become possible. I'll try to track someone down with a sharp telescope & high power eyepieces to give it a whirl.... after the ccp coronavirus is controlled.... if "don'T rump" doesn't set the disease off again, by kick-starting the economy too early. With Global ccp coronavirus death-rate at a wild hospital-stressing, patient-killing pace of 6.39%, "don''T rump" blows smoke up his butt, which can handle a lot of smoke.

 

People with very sharp apochromatic refractors have been splitting Gamma Virginis since 2010 (earlier?). But, really good atmospheric conditions & 300+ power eyepieces were necessary.

P.S. New report indicates even if & when ccp coronavirus is "controlled", we may have to social distance till 2022! Does this prediction even include that a "cure" for ccp coronavirus hopefully will be researched, discovered & distributed in latter 2021? Or might the cure be later, if research is stretched out?
Dr. Fauci is saying IF someone survives ccp coronavirus AND developes anti-bodies to the ccp coronavirus, that person still may be susceptible to getting ccp coronavirus in the future! Oh, boy! Might that indicate that any future cure, still might not be as effective as we are hoping? Oh, boy, again!! Pray to God, for the very best results.

P.S. II.... Global ccp coronavirus infections just moved over 2 million infections.
9-23-2020
PS III....Global ccp coronavirus cases are 31,999,818, resulting in 979,524 deaths. Six minutes later, World ccp coronavirus cases are 32,001,026, resulting in 979,536 deaths. Cases are not far from one third of 100 million...... 100 million, which we are rapidly heading towards.

 

You think YOU have light pollution ?
In Aurora IL , we can see about 50 stars , on a good night.

 

Have you ever seen the aurora in Aurora, IL.?
It would be a wonder, if it wasn't so tragic, that trillions & billions of stars can shed radiation that travels thousands & trillions of miles to Earth, then gets ambushed by a few miles of light-polluted atmosphere, in essence, disappearing. Decades ago, we had to scramble, but could find places that allowed us to see galaxies, 2000 times dimmer than the eye can see, with just standard 8 inch dobsonian telescopes. Those dark skies get less & less.

Now, Gamma Leonis, the star at the base of the neck in Leo, the Lion, is bright & seeable in light-pollution. Get a good telescope & see if you can split it into its two stars, both stars which are bright. Generally, I tell people to attend their nearby amateur astronomy club. But, ccp coronavirus has kicked America & amateur astronomy into the corner.

 

Observed some stars tonight. Venus keeps gaining on Earth. Using both hands, cupping them around the eyepiece to block as much stray neighbors' light as possible, it really helps to increase contrast. As Sirius got low, it was really dazzling with the cupped hands technique. All the different rainbow colors were sparkling. Its not that Sirius has all those colors. But, its low enough in the sky, the atmosphere continually plays with the star spectrum, refracting & wringing all the various colors out of the star spectrum. Went back to the Pleiades. The cupped hand technique really makes the bright stars sparkle & the dim stars stand out. That possible Beta 536 double star was very pleasant, especially with averted vision, altho about 10 times dimmer than the brightest Pleiades stars. That reminds me. Make a very dense, black cloth pillow slip to fit over your head & eyepiece. It'll block almost all the stray light. Make sure to seal the pillow slip from reflected ground light, too. Really wrap the pillow slip all around you.

 

Gonna look at bright Alpha Geminorum (Castor) double star, hopefully tonight. Both components are bright. Its been widening for decades & the low power terrestrial scope might split it, if the atmospheric conditions allow. I've been less dis-enchanted with the scope over the last few months. If it splits Castor, I'll continue being.... less dis-enchanted with it. Still remember last night's Pleiades view that was very nice. Used the cupped hands contrast increasing technique. I said make a pillow slip. I think a dark T-shirt will work well. I'm going to try one (maybe two) of my dark blue or red T-shirts & see if that blocks the light-pollution from the many neighbor lights.

 

Well, the little terrestrial scope split Castor. At only 53 power, the Castor split was pretty small. At Castor distance of 51 light-years, it took the small telescope & 53 power to detect a gap that was twice(?) the width of our entire Solar System between the 2 stars!! Color differences between the stars was hard to determine. Maybe better atmospheric conditions will help? That scope sure ain't gonna set records. Wouldn't want higher power, with such a difficult tripod. Had to wait later in the night for Castor to lower in the sky so the little non-astronomical tripod, would allow the scope to get to the star, without my back going out. It still was bad. Anyhow, I'm happier than if the scope hadn't split Castor. So there!
9-16-2020
PS....Now that I am using the 1000mm f/8 Pentax camera lens as a telescope with a low 60 power eyepiece, I’m curious to see Castor & how much better it should appear, in the Pentax lens than the dim 53 power spotting scope. Despite the low power Pentax eyepiece, near equal to that of the spotting scope, the Pentax has a spectacularly superior “look” than the spotting scope. Of course, the dramatic extra light gathering of the Pentax is vital. But, the pleasure of the Pentax over the spotting scope is miles (light-years?) apart. Yes, once this Smokey air clears from our Washington, Oregon & California forest fires, if I stay up longer, I should be able to see Castor anytime now. Thirty years ago we used to stay up all night observing the Universe. All my observing since March has been only for a few hours, & then I can feel my back say, “Its time to go to bed”. But now, I really want to see Castor.

 

Well...... Washington state astronomy is in effect tonight. Radiation that have traveled 25 to 10,000 trillion miles is now blocked by 2 miles of clouds.....
Resolved Castor last night. Maybe Gamma Leonis tomorrow night....or the next night..... or
P.S. Was comparing the Castor split with splitting Gamma Leonis. As squeaky a split as Castor was, Gamma Leonis looks tougher for the little terrestrial spotting scope. Think I have to look up less tough double stars to split. If I survive this ccp coronavirus, I need to really get active with Astronomy Club. My back would never be able to handle the more capable bigger telescopes. It's funny tho. The little spotting scope leading me back to the Club. ha ha ha

 

Oh, oh. Cloudy skies two days ago, rain yesterday, clouds today. B-b-but, clearing skies tonite? We'll see. Yesterday started clearing in late afternoon, then clouded up. Come on, skies. Keep clearing!!

P.S. Despite the clouding last night, I did get to observe Sirius, lower on the horizon in the small scope. Probably because of the incoming cloud system last night, Sirius really was flashing in the many colors of the rainbow. For such a small scope, Sirius really did dazzle.

 

Well... between the old Celestial Handbook & looking up more recent coordinates for nearby stars to Beta536, yeah, I'm pretty sure it is Beta536. Anyhow, I pulled a funny on myself. Robert Burnham, writer of the Celestial Handbook, said for himself, the Pleiades Cluster looked mighty sweet in a pair of 20x70 binoculars. So, I got out my 20x80 binoculars, despite the great amount of light-pollution. & yes, the Pleiades did look nice in the 20x80's. Anyhow, as it got dark, I could see Beta536 well. So, I set the spotting scope up. To my surprise I could see Beta536 better with the binoculars than through the 53 power small terrestial scope. But it shouldn't have surprised me. Both instruments have the same diameter lenses, the binocular has two lenses, the binoculars don't have a central obstruction as the Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope has & the binocular has less reflecting surfaces. Yeah, the binocular view should show brighter images of dim stars. As it always has, galaxies have been a pleasure with the 20x80 binoculars.

 

Finding the right celestial objects is difficult with the terrestrial scope, but I've always found the right stars before. I was out yesterday, trying to split Gamma Leonis. My searches for Gamma Leonis always led me back to the same star. It had the right brightness AND the right color. No other bright stars were in the region. Tried & tried to split the star & get the star to show two stars. Never could. At times of good seeing, it didn't ever give any indication that suggested it might be a double star. I knew it might not show as a double star, but I was hoping it would give an indication that it might not be a single star.

 

Observed the stars with the 20x80 binoculars on a good tripod last night. Looked at Venus & Sirius fairly quickly. Wanted to see Cassiopeia. With small binoculars, I walked across the street to get a better view toward the north. Still, trees were in the way. Had to walk 200 yards along our street before I cleared the trees & could see the low, side-ways orientation of the Cassiopeia "W" with small binos. Yeah, it sure wasn't impressive in the light pollution & with thin clouds, compared to what I used to see of Cassiopeia in the dark-sky mountains. I did note in the wide-angle 8 power binocs that Cassiopeia spanned a large region of sky. Anyhow, I went back for the tripod & big binoculars & set them up. & yeah, Cassiopeia is a grand constellation, indeed, even with blocking intermittent clouds. Swung the binocs away from the "W", towards the double cluster. I eventually saw the double cluster, as the clouds shifted east.
Altho I could see the double cluster, what really impressed me was the great dappling of other stars & star clusters in the double cluster region that was really filling the 3.5 degree field of the 20 power binoculars. Then, it struck me. In the summer, late into the night, I used higher power astro telescopes to watch the double cluster high in the sky. At those times, it was impossible to use the tripod mounted 20 power binoculars looking vertically. At rare times, I laid on the ground & shakily hand-held the 20 power binocs vertically. But, it was tough & I had missed the grand fullness of the Cassiopeia star clouds.

 

I’ve had astronomy observations in this “coronavirus will end” thread AND in the Neowise Comet thread. I hauled the old Pentax screw-mount 1000mm f/8 camera lens out & started observing with the one, low power eyepiece with built in screw-mount attachment. The Pentax is superior to the 53 power terrestrial scope, AND the images are sweet, even with the low power(60-70 power?). It’s heavy, tho not as bulky & heavy as my astronomical scopes were. My back could not handle the big astronomical telescopes & I quit observing. I’ll post celestial observations with the Pentax in the Neowise Comet thread, as long as my back holds up with the lighter Pentax.
Other things to do “when the coronavirus tragedy ends, which it isn’t”: The fall bird migration is on. Just saw a Hermit Thrush & Yellow Warblers & others that were too quick to ID. Also, had my 1st sighting of a Blackthroated Gray Warbler(not common)....very nice. So get the binoculars out & pay stronger attention to the foliage about you.