JMW
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 02/11/07
Loc: Nevada
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I Love February for Astronomy
#5662601 - 02/04/13 10:18 PM
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It has been clear and mild the last couple of nights. I just push away my roll away shed and I am observing right after dinner. Orion and Jupiter are high in the sky. It is 50 degrees out. Pretty balmy for Reno. What a great way to relax on a week night.
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GeneT
Ely Kid
Reged: 11/07/08
Loc: South Texas
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: JMW]
#5662659 - 02/04/13 10:46 PM
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I grew up in Ely. Nevada is a great place to practice astronomy.
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JMW
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 02/11/07
Loc: Nevada
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: GeneT]
#5662695 - 02/04/13 11:27 PM
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I sure your Ely skies were/are much darker than Reno's skies. It is great to be in absolutely dark skies an hour out of town.
My balmy winter observing was cut short by clouds rolling in after 8PM. I at least got a couple of hours in tonight. Reality returns this weekend with a forecast of snow. Good bye highs in the 50's, hello snow.
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csrlice12
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/22/12
Loc: Denver, CO
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: JMW]
#5663032 - 02/05/13 08:14 AM
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Dark Sky weekend coming up.....hope the weather holds. It's been clear the last couple of nights but windy. I haven't gotten the scope out for about a month. Even when the stars have been out, with the unstable atmosphere they've been twinkling their little hearts out (even jupiter has a "shimmer" now and then.)
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Undermidnight
BEOTS "Tweener Cup" winner
Reged: 05/25/04
Loc: Hilliard, Ohio
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: csrlice12]
#5663064 - 02/05/13 08:38 AM
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Ok, being an Ohio native, you guys stink!!!  I wish we had clear skies here in Ohio right now. Starting in November and last through late March, we live under a perpetual cloud deck.
One of my favorite times of year to observe when the sky is clear. Just love the winter sky!
(I envy you guys)
Jason
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droid
rocketman
Reged: 08/29/04
Loc: Conneaut, Ohio
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: Undermidnight]
#5663080 - 02/05/13 08:48 AM
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Gosh Jason you beat me too it. 
Kinda like my uncle when I was teenager, sending us photos from Arizona, when we were 10 feet under snow.
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Mike4242
professor emeritus
Reged: 11/02/11
Loc: Memphis, TN
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: droid]
#5663100 - 02/05/13 09:06 AM
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This past Saturday night was the first night our club has actually held our monthly observing session since early November. Looks like February might finally bring some clear skies our way. February is definitely a good month with Orion, Taurus, Gemini, Perseus, and Auriga high in the sky right after sunset and Canis Major just above the horizon. We have our second observing session for the month scheduled for this Saturday -- hopefully the clear skies hold out.
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csrlice12
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/22/12
Loc: Denver, CO
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: Undermidnight]
#5663125 - 02/05/13 09:17 AM
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"Ok, being an Ohio native, you guys stink!!!"
You're just jealous that the rest of us escaped....Scope West, young man, Scope West......
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Tony Flanders
Postmaster
Reged: 05/18/06
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: JMW]
#5663188 - 02/05/13 09:48 AM
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February and October have always been my two favorite months -- starting long before I did telescopic astronomy.
I suspect it's partly because the nights are still longer than the days, but not too much longer. I'm now commuting home in the light.
I love backpacking, but December and January are a bit much for me. Spending 14 hours at a stretch in my sleeping bag gets old!
In a normal winter, February is also the nicest month for winter sports here in the U.S. Northeast. The snow pack in the mountains is usually deepest in late February or early March, the temperatures start to moderate, and (as I said before) the days return to a liveable length.
Sadly, there's been hardly any snow this winter. And what little there was was wiped out by torrential rains with temperatures in the 50s a week ago. Good for astronomy but bad for everything else. Cold without snow is pretty unrewarding.
February also tends to have pretty clear skies and very good transparency here in the Northeast -- except downwind of the lakes.
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Dennis_S253
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 11/22/11
Loc: West Central Florida
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: Tony Flanders]
#5663435 - 02/05/13 11:41 AM
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Yea, So far February has been great. Been really cold at night. You know...in the 30's. Leo's looking good also.
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csrlice12
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/22/12
Loc: Denver, CO
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: Dennis_S253]
#5663485 - 02/05/13 12:11 PM
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"Been really cold at night. You know...in the 30's."
Oh, and tell Leo to get off the couch already......
Edited by csrlice12 (02/05/13 12:12 PM)
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jeff heck
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/16/06
Loc: stl,mo.
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: Dennis_S253]
#5663491 - 02/05/13 12:16 PM
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I plan on going out locally tonight and again on Thursday from central Kansas. I love the fact if you do an all nighter you get great views of spring galaxies, not to mention Saturn in Virgo.
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jkaiser
member
Reged: 01/07/13
Loc: Wood River Junction, Rhode Isl...
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: jeff heck]
#5663511 - 02/05/13 12:26 PM
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I wish I could say february is great for astronomy.
It has been cloudy and overcast and below freezing for me here in RI for the last week and half.
The one decent night was last friday but after I had dinner I walked my dog and the wind picked up and it was to cold and then clouds rolled in, again.
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csrlice12
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/22/12
Loc: Denver, CO
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: jkaiser]
#5663562 - 02/05/13 01:04 PM
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I'm beginning to think that even thinking of astronomy causes clouds to form..
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JMW
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 02/11/07
Loc: Nevada
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: Undermidnight]
#5663822 - 02/05/13 03:55 PM
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I spent the first 22 years of my life in Michigan. Clouds from Thanksgiving to past Easter. Snowbanks under the trees until late May.
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csrlice12
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/22/12
Loc: Denver, CO
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: JMW]
#5663879 - 02/05/13 04:21 PM
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Yea, live on the UP (Sault St Marie), and it snowed EVERY month of the year up there.......
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HellsKitchen
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 09/05/08
Loc: Melbourne Australia
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: csrlice12]
#5664818 - 02/06/13 08:53 AM
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February is not a bad month... get to enjoy the Orion region, Magellanic Clouds, the Milkyway from Monoceros down through Carina, Centaurus and Crux in the evening, following by some nice galaxy fields in Antlia, Centaurus, Hydra, Leo and Virgo in the morning.
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csrlice12
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/22/12
Loc: Denver, CO
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: HellsKitchen]
#5664822 - 02/06/13 08:56 AM
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So do I, It's cold, and the weather is cr@%%y. Ideal weather for staying indoors. (Hey, if it's bad weather, might as well be cold; and vice versa).
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uniondrone
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/05/09
Loc: Streetlight Archipelago
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: csrlice12]
#5665032 - 02/06/13 11:26 AM
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Meanwhile, here in Michigan, I actually saw the sun today for the first time in weeks...
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BigC
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 09/29/10
Loc: SE Indiana
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: uniondrone]
#5665143 - 02/06/13 12:28 PM
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Is THAT what the bright yellowish light was for an hour or so Monday afternoon?
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csrlice12
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/22/12
Loc: Denver, CO
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: BigC]
#5665265 - 02/06/13 01:28 PM
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Well, the groundhog DID say Spring was here..........In Michigan, Spring usually only lasts and hour or two......Like they say in the UP, We have three seasons: June, July, and Winter.....
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Widespread
sage
Reged: 05/11/11
Loc: Bowling Green, Kentucky
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: csrlice12]
#5665560 - 02/06/13 03:55 PM
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This month, I've done at least a little viewing every night save one. And it's looking good again tonite!
The temps have been all over the place. High of 24F on Friday, in the 50s yesterday.
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Starman81
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 03/06/08
Loc: Metro Detroit, MI, USA
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: uniondrone]
#5665745 - 02/06/13 05:58 PM
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Quote:
Meanwhile, here in Michigan, I actually saw the sun today for the first time in weeks...
Yep, I texted my wife at work, told her to look outside, we have a visitor!
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star drop
Snowed In
Reged: 02/02/08
Loc: Snow Plop, WNY
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Re: I Love February for Astronomy
[Re: Starman81]
#5665749 - 02/06/13 06:01 PM
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October through May is snow shoveling season.
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