Exquisite Skies!

While many of you were enjoying good skies at Stellafane or Northfield, my son Tyler and I went up to the hill of Friday, August 14 to do a little publicity for the hill with a reporter from the Hampshire Gazette. I'm happy to report that my son is much more eloquent than I and ended up getting the lion's share of the interview time, and he's a terrific spokesperson for Arunah Hill. Thanks Tyler!

After the interview, we showed the reporter Jupiter ascending over the trees in twilight, and the Gaertner delivered! Amazing that after 100 years this telescope can still deliver. After the reporter left, Tyler and I went up to the top of the hill and sat and watched the summer stars slowly emerge. Once the milky way popped out, after a summer of haze and humidity, we we stunned at how transparent the night became.

Once fully dark, the rifts and knows in the Milky Way were vivid, and a binocular tour revealed structure and detail beyond comprehension. We went back to the Gaertner, and hit all the summer show pieces: the wild duck, the trifid and lagoon, M-13 & M-22, then the double cluster and Andromeda galaxy filling the eyepiece.

Before we knew it, it was approaching midnight and moonrise. Had Jupiter really moved THAT far before our eyes? It seemed like no time had past.

We got back in the car, turned on the radio, and were distressed to hear the Red Sox down to their last strike... but then a double, and a flurry of hits, a Sox victory! A nice way to cap a great night with my son before he hads back to college.

-ED