Sunday, August 13, 2006

Passed on Perseids Saturday night

Click on this screenshot from Astromist for a marked up illustration.

Two nights in a row of clear skies!! Unheard of.

Yet it happened, and I passed on going to TotL or CSP to observe the Perseids. Instead I chose to observe the Moon from my daughter's bedroom window using Takahashi 22x60 bins. I have always been impressed with the Nectaris Basin, Rupes Altai, and the 3 eye catching craters: Theophilus, Cyrillus, and Catharina. I still confuse the names of these three with Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus, and Arzachel, even though they differ in size and location. Their arrangement is enough to echo one another in appearance. Also when the first smaller trio stands in relief during approaching sunset, the larger central pair is remains washed out in sunlight, their rimmed walls providing ghostly outlines to the persistent observer.

And tonight seems very promising. Might be enough to tease me out even though tomorrow morning I need to rise early.