Ad Astra Observatory

It rained in Clearwater for the first couple of days we were there, and was cloudy for another day before it got real clear and cold.

The moon went from nice 4d Crescent through first quarter, and people asked about “quarter moon” (it’s half full, you see), and moonrise and moonset and tides.

There’s a clam tide for 2 nights later this week. The digging will be for a couple of days near full moon. The clam tides are the evening lows; 6pm and 7pm I think.

Deneb and Vega are still up in the northwest, a nice counterpoint to Capella and The Kids. Orion pops up right after sunset, so a lot of people notice it.

At zenith, I can still detect some Milky Way going through Casseiopeia.

No evidence of M31 at zenith under a bright moon, seems like I saw something near M81, though. Betelgeuse and Aldebaran make a nice pair low in the east.

Temps have been in the mid-20s at night, so the air is crisp and clear. I wish that streetlight would go away though.