Friday night was an incredible night for stargazing. It's pretty rare to have a completely cloudless night here, but Friday it was perfect for scanning the heavens.
I hadn't had the SkyScout out for quite a while--last time it was the middle of winter and cold as the dickens. For some reason I thought about getting it out Friday, but I couldn't find the damn thing. I looked everywhere I thought it could be, but it wasn't there. Finally I located the damn thing in the closet in our bedroom, next to my camera gadget bag.
The sky was so dark and the stars were so bright that it was hard to know where to start. The moon was just a sliver, so it didn't throw too much light and spoil things. Pollux and Castor, the planet Saturn, Aldebaran, you name it, they were all just leaping out of the darkness. For some reason, though, Polaris always seems to be not very bright here, maybe because pole light on the barn pollutes the view to the north. I"ve noticed it's also hard to see the Ursa constellations, maybe for the same reason.
The cleanest views here are to the northwest, west, southwest and south. The southeast isn't bad, either. But there's light pollution from Oberlin to the east and northeast and the barn light to the north. From about 315˚ around to 135˚ is almost pure darkness, which is very hard to find these days unless you really live in the boonies.
I would have stayed out for an hour, but it was actually kinda chilly--about 45˚--and I had my shorts on because it had been a warm day. Should have just changed into something warmer, but there you have it. I wish I had had a telescope, but I have curbed the urge to buy one thus far. Probably just be another expensive toy that would collect dust. Or not.
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