Stellarium helped determine where I should look in the sky (this might be Quixotic, but I enjoy having to work a little to locate something in the sky, but that attitude will likely change the deeper into the sky I delve). Luckily, on that night the cluster sat directly above the gleaming Aldebaran. I definitely know that star, it took me for a vapid fool not too long ago. Now friends again - how long can one stay angry at a ball of fusion - without aid or instrument, I located Aldebaran easily, which Mars, sitting just below to the northeast, made even easier. So, the Pleiades should just reach out and shake me, then, I assumed. Scanning above Aldebaran revealing nothing. A magnitude 0.05 Capella sat directly to the northeast, so I knew not to go beyond that landmark. Nothing. I didn't see a thing. No little glistening splotch of light appeared anywhere. So, out came the 10x50 binoculars for a look. Within 30 seconds, the familiar kite-shaped pattern of the Pleiades greeted me in the view. My sanity somewhat restored, I set up the tripod and took out the 25x70 binoculars for a better look. In another 30 seconds, a new Pleiades appeared. This time the kite had many friends. Stars flooded the view in an amazing aesthetic dance that had me staring until my eyes watered and my back began to ache. Once again, I attempted a mobile phone picture. To my surprise, it picked up the brightest stars (below).
Obviously, the picture doesn't even deserve to be associated with the sight that I saw in the binoculars. But it at least resembled it. I'm guessing that the main stars pictured, "the kite," include Maia, Electra, Merope, and Alcyone, with Atlas and Pleione dangling below. More staring at the picture revealed a dim triangle of stars to the right of Atlas and a small trail of stars snaking rightwards directly below Merope. A few others emerged above Maia, maybe Taygeta and Celaeno? Once back inside, it all lined up with Stellarium, so I could confirm my first
One thing still perplexed me. Even Wikipedia claims the Pleiades as "the most obvious cluster to the naked eye in the night sky." But it didn't appear for me at all without magnification. My eyes still correct to 20/15, so I don't think that was a factor. So, once away from the binoculars and knowing exactly where the cluster should appear, I looked again. For a while, I saw nothing. Then I noticed that if I slightly deflected my vision I saw a little bundle of light where I had previously not seen one. After looking continuously for maybe 30 more seconds, the form began to appear, though only very dimly. It took maybe a minute or two before it appeared and looked "correct." So, perhaps previously my night vision hadn't fully adjusted? I don't blame it, the location from which I viewed has intense ground lights and typically appears as a
That thought sealed itself in my mind when I then saw a police car pull up next to me. First some background. The land on which I stood belongs to the building in which I own one of the condominiums. It's not a public park that closes, nor someone else's private property. It's just a little peninsula of land containing a few trees that sits between two city roads. Houses sit to the south and a food wholesaler to the north. I had stood in that same spot 5 other times without attracting any attention, but I figured that soon I would become an object of apprehension for someone living nearby. That time had apparently come. The officer rolled down his window and said "it looks like you're looking at stars." I said "yes," he replied "someone called in on you," and I said "I feared that might happen someday." Then he asked me if I was having any luck and I pointed to Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. I apologized to him and he said "thanks" and drove away. He didn't even leave the car. He was extremely friendly. I had planned to look for Uranus near the Pleiades and
After feeling a little bummed for a while, it dawned on me that perhaps I just need to find a better place to view the sky. Honestly, I never feel 100% safe outside at night in the area anyway, and the conditions seem beyond poor for viewing anything but the brightest objects. A local Astronomy club has some dedicated and darker land about half an hour away, so I thought perhaps the time had come to look into that option.
In the end, I told myself that at least I had seen the Pleiades.