Many thanks to those of you who have purchased my autobiography Finding my Way to the Stars. I hope you have enjoyed it.

Sunday, 8 August 2021, was cloudy. Monday, 9 August, was cloudy with rain (0.22") before sunrise.

Tuesday, 10 August, had a brief thunderstorm in the morning (0.22"). Most of the rain (and Flash Flood Warning) stayed to the south of Cassiopeia Observatory. One of my webcams captured this lightning at 0657 MST.

Had more rain (0.08") Wednesday morning, 11 August. Wednesday night was mostly cloudy. I missed observing the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower.

Although there were clouds in the sky, I attempted to photograph the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi, which has brightened from its normal Mag. +12.5 to Mag. +4.8. This photograph was taken with a tripod mounted (non-tracking) D850 DSLR (f/5.6, 20 seconds, ISO 20000, FL 24mm). The Milky Way is visible through the clouds. (Due to the clouds, I did not visually observe the nova.)

Mouseover or tap on image for pointer to the nova

Compare the above photo to the one I took at Oracle State Park on 3 August 2021 before the nova outburst. The circle marks the location of RS Ophiuchi.

I also photographed the crescent Moon, some Earthshine, the planet Venus (lower right), and lightning in a distant storm Wednesday night. Taken with the D850 DSLR (f/2.8, 4 seconds, ISO 400, FL 40mm).

Click or tap on image for larger version

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