Cassiopeia Observatory

Short Session, Ended by Clouds

Posted: 30 January 2013

After my last observing session on Tuesday, 22 January 2013, clouds and rain (0.89" on Saturday alone and another 0.15" on Monday) prevented observing. I posted a time-lapse video of Saturday's rain and Monday's wet day. Sunday morning at 1000 MST, 27 January 2013, I went out to the observatory to check on things after the rain. As I walked out of the house I saw a bobcat on the pathway to the observatory. He (she?) looked back at me and then walked on past the observatory. I continued to the observatory, keeping an eye out for the bobcat. All was well at the observatory, and I guess, with the bobcat.

The forecast for Tuesday night, 29 January 2013, was for clear skies, but in actuality it was partly cloudy at sunset. Since the forecast for the next night was for cloudy skies, I decided to open the observatory anyway for some observing. Sunset was pretty:

The observatory was opened at 1808 MST, 43°F. Besides the clouds low in the west, there were some clouds low in the north. After opening the dome, I did my first Twitter Vine video:

Click image to view the 6 second video

At 1825 MST, I slewed the Meade 8" LX200-ACF to Jupiter, but as the telescope arrived, Jupiter was hidden by a cloud. At 1829 MST, I got a brief look at Jupiter, 77X. Four moons were visible. The clouds that were low in the north when I opened the observatory were now in much of the northern 2/3rds of the sky. So much for the clear sky forecasts from Clear Sky Chart and 7Timer (and others).

By 1837 MST, the sky was mostly cloudy. I decided to close the observatory.

The observatory was closed at 1849 MST, 39°F.

Meade has released their first iOS app: SkyKey. I have reviewed it on my ETX Site.

I mentioned on my last report that I was interviewed by a local newspaper. The interview was posted online (see my last report for a link to the article). I picked up the paper copy and was surprised to see that the interview was featured on the newspaper's front page:

Comments are welcome; use the Comments section below, or you can Email Me. Thanks.

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