January 22nd, 2011

It had been 14 nights since I had been outside with my telescope. A nasty cold paired with many nights under cloud cover were the culprits. When I saw that a high pressure system was moving in that morning, I knew that the skies would be clear and immediately knew what my evening activity would be. I would be out there!

The thermostat told a different story.

It was -35 ºC or -31 ºF. With the windchill, the weather report online warned a cold factor of -42 (the same both in Celsius and Fahrenheit. I told myself that since I stargazed from the comforts of my back porch (there is little light pollution in the north) I could slip in and out of the house and escape the cold.

I was wrong.

The cold seemed to sip from the metal of my telescope, through my gloves, burn the skin and chill my bones within seconds. At -40, a person can feel the burn of frostbite within minutes. I lasted for 7. I had enough time to see Jupiter, marvel at the placement of its satellites, take a quick look at M42 (the Orion Nebula) before I brought my telescope back in suffering from the cold. Someone on SGL remarked that going out in this kind of weather was considered, extreme astronomy. I have a new name for it:

Stupidity.

I didn't take any pictures since I thought that the temperatures would be too cold for the camera. Funny that I don't extend the same courtesy to my body. From now on, if the thermometer goes lower than -25 ºC or -13 ºF, I shall remain indoors.

Promise.

Don't let this picture fool you, I was in no smiling mood when I returned indoors this time.