April 7th, 2019, 08:10 p.m. local time
Good evening! It’s been a while. Yes, I blame the weather. But that excuse washed into the recovering ground during today’s first Spring rain.
Since my last post on January’s eclipse, I have observed the night sky when opportunity presented itself. Looked at Orion when it was high, wishing the winds and cold were not so severe that I could have gotten a telescope outside, or a camera. It’s always a little depressing this time of year when, just as the weather turns favorably in North America, Taurus and the Pleiades and Orion start nipping at the setting Western Sun. They prepare for their long seasonal rest.
But there’s always something to look forward to in the sky. Leo and Regulus are returning. Scorpius and Antares are just behind. And the faint teapot of Sagittarius returns as well, along with my hopes of resuming my neglected ongoing search for Pluto.
The early morning sky is the current treat. Venus and Saturn and Jupiter are all out before dawn. There are months of planetary viewing ahead. It will end when Orion begins its return, later this year.
For now though, tonight offered a nice look at the New Crescent Moon within the hour after Sunset. The clouds and post-rain haze framed our moon alone in the West, with emerging Orion trailing not too far away.
