Been a warm week here; the last two days have been over 30C (90F) with a lot of humidity. This afternoon we had sudden rain three times, accompanied by low rumbling thunder. From winter to summer in three weeks; what happened to spring?
Had a BBQ and a few beers with the family, then sat outside for a bit. The haze was still present, but the clouds were dissipating, and the Moon was over our roof. Hmmm....
I brought out my 60mm Towatron and 80mm C80-HD in the off chance it would clear up a bit. This was at a quarter to nine; it's still twilight here. I took a few shots with the 60mm. These were my current conditions:
Yup, time for another beer
I had a couple of those while twilight faded to semi-darkness. At about 10PM, the haze thinned for the most part and there was a noticeable coolness in the air. The Moon was going to disappear behind my tree in about half an hour, so I tried for a few shots with both scopes. Still not totally clear or dark, but from what I could see of the clouds rolling in from the west, it was now or never...The shots with the 60mm didn't really turn out all that well. Made for a rather nasty stack. I had somewhat better luck with the 80mm:
Full size image here
The clouds were advancing, and again I could hear thunder. Might be time to bring all this in... Sure enough; not even ten minutes after it was all in, the rain came pouring down. Processed my pictures (or tried to with some of them) and passed out on the couch.
Now it's Sunday morning, and according to the weather report, it is clear out. I'm still in the basement where I fell asleep; might be time for coffee and a peek at the Sun; sunspot AR2824 has belched out 9 C-class and 2 M-class flares in the past 24 hours, according to spaceweather.com. Active little booger, hope I get to see it!
All the best for the rest of your weekend,
