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E PA/NJ/DE Summer 2020 OBS Thread


Rtd208
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Was under some clouds for a bit that kept temps in check, but now up to 87F as noon approaches. Dipped down to a bone chilling 79F overnight.

I did manage to see the comet Saturday evening using an 8" Dobsonian, but I think binoculars would work too. Still no crickets or katydids.

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I managed to hit 95 so far today just after 1 pm, but before that, I have been getting an on and off deck of cirrus that effectively blocks the sun and drops the temps a few degrees (one such period happening between 11 and 1 pm where the temp dipped to 89 from 93).  Currently "down to" 92 and partly sunny and breezy, with a broken deck of cirrus.  Seems to be some kind of atmospheric mixing going on because it's not a sauna in my location despite still being hot with dews in the upper 60s/low 70s in the area.

1 hour ago, JTA66 said:

Was under some clouds for a bit that kept temps in check, but now up to 87F as noon approaches. Dipped down to a bone chilling 79F overnight.

I did manage to see the comet Saturday evening using an 8" Dobsonian, but I think binoculars would work too. Still no crickets or katydids.

I have had some cloud decks during dusk/dawn the past couple days, so little chance of seeing that comet.  Still, I think NOTHING will ever surpass the amazing Hale-Bopp.  Anything that you could literally see without a telescope, during the light of day as well as at night (where it's orientation would be shifted), and to do so for weeks, AND it had an obvious tail, was enough for me!  B)

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1 hour ago, Hurricane Agnes said:

I managed to hit 95 so far today just after 1 pm, but before that, I have been getting an on and off deck of cirrus that effectively blocks the sun and drops the temps a few degrees (one such period happening between 11 and 1 pm where the temp dipped to 89 from 93).  Currently "down to" 92 and partly sunny and breezy, with a broken deck of cirrus.  Seems to be some kind of atmospheric mixing going on because it's not a sauna in my location despite still being hot with dews in the upper 60s/low 70s in the area.

I have had some cloud decks during dusk/dawn the past couple days, so little chance of seeing that comet.  Still, I think NOTHING will ever surpass the amazing Hale-Bopp.  Anything that you could literally see without a telescope, during the light of day as well as at night (where it's orientation would be shifted), and to do so for weeks, AND it had an obvious tail, was enough for me!  B)

Hale-Bopp was great!  I lived in San Francisco when it appeared, and was able to enjoy it from a bluff overlooking the Pacific, called Land's End.   Having seen a great comet, I don't need to fret over not seeing this one.  For anyone who missed Hale-Bopp, I'm hoping something similar will happen soon.  BTW, Halley's, years later, was a non-event for me. I thought I would see two great comets in my lifetime, but Halley's fizzled this time around. (1985?)

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Agreed, Hale-Bopp is the gold standard I'll measure all comets against. Halley's was a disappointment as was Kohoutek in 1973. I remember looking for it in the backyard as a 6-year old, but I don't think we found it.

Still would like to experience a total eclipse (will have to plan a trip for that) and view a supernova.

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37 minutes ago, stemwinder said:

Hale-Bopp was great!  I lived in San Francisco when it appeared, and was able to enjoy it from a bluff overlooking the Pacific, called Land's End.   Having seen a great comet, I don't need to fret over not seeing this one.  For anyone who missed Hale-Bopp, I'm hoping something similar will happen soon.  BTW, Halley's, years later, was a non-event for me. I thought I would see two great comets in my lifetime, but Halley's fizzled this time around. (1985?)

For all the hype about Halley's, it was a complete dud. :huh:  If anything, Hale-Bopp was historically "unknown" (thousands of years of an orbital period) so that made up for the Halley's disappointment.

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17 minutes ago, JTA66 said:

Agreed, Hale-Bopp is the gold standard I'll measure all comets against. Halley's was a disappointment as was Kohoutek in 1973. I remember looking for it in the backyard as a 6-year old, but I don't think we found it.

Still would like to experience a total eclipse (will have to plan a trip for that) and view a supernova.

I think Comet Hyakutake was a year before Hale-Bopp and that one, although brief, was visible (appearing as a fuzz ball on my 'scopes at the time).  I had even toyed around with getting a CCD camera for a 'scope but had too many expensive hobbies back then. :yikes::lol:

Well am back up to 95 and it's starting to get more sauna-like.  Am guessing we're starting to get some down-sloping from the "cold" (cool) front that is approaching from the west.

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1 hour ago, JTA66 said:

Agreed, Hale-Bopp is the gold standard I'll measure all comets against. Halley's was a disappointment as was Kohoutek in 1973. I remember looking for it in the backyard as a 6-year old, but I don't think we found it.

Still would like to experience a total eclipse (will have to plan a trip for that) and view a supernova.

I remember all the hype about Kohoutek.  Was at Land's End waiting for it one chilly evening, and never saw it.  Maybe we're allowed just one great comet in a lifetime.  

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1 hour ago, Hurricane Agnes said:

I think Comet Hyakutake was a year before Hale-Bopp and that one, although brief, was visible (appearing as a fuzz ball on my 'scopes at the time).  I had even toyed around with getting a CCD camera for a 'scope but had too many expensive hobbies back then. :yikes::lol:

Hyakutake was visible as a fuzzy object in a different part of the sky from Hale-Bopp.  It would have been my lifetime comet if Hale-Bopp hadn't scooped it the next year.  A CCD camera would have set you back big time in those days.  And maybe for about a .5 megapixel image at that.  Good that you waited.

Hyakutake got me locked out on my fire escape when I was watching it.  I had had a few.  Lucky someone was around to let me in, late at night.

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48 minutes ago, stemwinder said:

Hyakutake was visible as a fuzzy object in a different part of the sky from Hale-Bopp.  It would have been my lifetime comet if Hale-Bopp hadn't scooped it the next year.  A CCD camera would have set you back big time in those days.  And maybe for about a .5 megapixel image at that.  Good that you waited.

Hyakutake got me locked out on my fire escape when I was watching it.  I had had a few.  Lucky someone was around to let me in, late at night.

At the time, I was building an early Dolby Digital "home theater", pre-DVD era, with "budget high-end" equipment and a laserdisc player and trying to maintain a couple fish tanks (including 2 saltwater ones where one was a reef tank with corals and anemones, etc).    I was in a hi-rise with a balcony and an unobstructed view of the W/N/NE sky, where many phenomena fortunately appeared.  I did get an Olympus SLR (L-1, early auto-loading/winding 35mm) camera with a tripod and all kinds of telephoto lenses for it and took I don't know how many pics of Hale-Bopp and other things like the Pleides that I like, but still haven't developed them. :lol:  Also liked to occasionally watch for ISS flyovers and now that I am back down on terra firma, I have seen a couple of those.

Looks like my max for today was 95 and it's currently a mostly sunny but hazy 93. Dews hanging in the mid-upper 60s.

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28 minutes ago, Hurricane Agnes said:

At the time, I was building an early Dolby Digital "home theater", pre-DVD era, with "budget high-end" equipment and a laserdisc player and trying to maintain a couple fish tanks (including 2 saltwater ones where one was a reef tank with corals and anemones, etc).    I was in a hi-rise with a balcony and an unobstructed view of the W/N/NE sky, where many phenomena fortunately appeared.  I did get an Olympus SLR (L-1, early auto-loading/winding 35mm) camera with a tripod and all kinds of telephoto lenses for it and took I don't know how many pics of Hale-Bopp and other things like the Pleides that I like, but still haven't developed them. :lol:  Also liked to occasionally watch for ISS flyovers and now that I am back down on terra firma, I have seen a couple of those.

Looks like my max for today was 95 and it's currently a mostly sunny but hazy 93. Dews hanging in the mid-upper 60s.

Wow.  And I'm berating myself thinking of buying a full frame SONY mirrorless, and scrapping all my smaller format camera stuff.  It's a lot of fun. I hope you eventually develop those pix. OTOH, after looking down on it for years, I realized by 2005 that digital was great.  

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