Christmas Vacation Astronomy

Christmas Vacation Astronomy

December was not an ideal month for astronomy. It was mostly cloudy, and my next door neighbor’s Christmas Vacation style holiday lights are bright enough to cast shadows. 😆He is an awesome neighbor, though, very considerate about lights when I’m...
Pi Andromedae

Pi Andromedae

My happy discovery of Pi Andromedae occurred on Wednesday 15 November 2023 while I was making observations of the double star STFA 1, which is near Delta Andromedae, just to the south of Pi, following up on this Cloudy Nights topic about using hand held binoculars to...
The Neglected Lizard

The Neglected Lizard

A list of the least observed constellations in northern skies would surely include Lacerta the Lizard, added to the celestial canon by Johannes Hevelius in 1687. Maybe THE least observed? How could that be determined, I wonder? 🤔The above image is a detail from Plate...
The Oberwerk 20×70 ED Ultra In Its Glory

The Oberwerk 20×70 ED Ultra In Its Glory

On wednesday evening, September 20, 2023, among other binocular astronomy adventures I observed a hexagonal asterism pointed out by fellow Cloudy Nights member aznuge with an APM 20×80 binocular I had been using to log Cygni 100 list doubles (back left in image)....
48 Cygni Star Field

48 Cygni Star Field

I observed the 48 Cygni starfield Thursday evening, September 14, 2023, from the east side of my yard because Cygnus is migrating to the west now and passing behind the dreaded pines of roam near my driveway. (Massive pine trees that block the western side of the sky...