[AZ-Observing] Re: Observations Sans Scope



I was struck by how true Tom's words were...

"With all the thousands of dollars we spend on astronomy gear, naked-eye
observations such as these are always my most precious astronomical
memories." 

The same for me, back on July 14th I had spent my time looking at a
computer screen all night.  But the view I remember is the dawn lineup
of planets.  A crescent moon leading the way, Venus and Saturn within
half a degree of each other, Jupiter then Mercury completing a line from
60 degrees, down to the horizon.  All of this in an absolutely beautiful
dawn over the Tucson Mountains. 

As I look back how many of your best memories are naked eye?  A fireball
across the sky, the Milky Way in all its glory arching across the
heavens, or a sunrise filled with planets.  But then if we appreciate
the sky enough to drag all that expensive equipment out to some dark
site we are probably pre-disposed to also appreciate the simple wonder
of the sky when viewed without the telescope. 

Hmmm, need to write that up for our newsletter.

Andrew


-- 

Andrew Cooper
Tucson, AZ
mailto:acooper@xxxxxxxxx
http://whitethorn.house.home.att.net
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