April 1st, 2011

After watching one of my favourite science fiction movies of all time "Alien", I decided to take out my telescope. It was around 10:00pm and since the night sky doesn't become dark till later, this was the perfect time.

Orion was already very low to the horizon. It was with ultimate respect that I gave it a wave goodnight. The final curtain was falling for my dearest constellation since the center stage will soon be ready for the spring / summer night sky.

I sat in my astro-chair watching the stars as my eyes became accustomed to the darkness. I can't do this comfortably during the winter months because of the cold which made this particular moment that much more divine! I knew where my next deep sky challenge would be: M44, the Beehive cluster. I told myself that my eyesight was NOT going to be a barrier this time and since the moon was nowhere to be found, neither would there be any celestial interference. With my back facing west, I decided to take a small detour to knock on Saturn's door. It was bright and very welcoming but the meeting wasn't as exciting as I had hoped. As I looked through my eyepiece, the fact that my telescope needed collimation (the mirrors need to be realigned) screamed under my skin. Soon my collimator would arrive. Soon, very soon,...

My thirst for something a little father tugged once more and I set my viewfinder to the north. My target resided in the constellation of Cancer. For some reason, I had trouble distinguishing it's stars. This baffled me since my area is usually relatively free of light pollution. A little push here and a couple of quick glimpses there, and,.. Oh there goes a satellite! Oh yeah back to the cluster,...

All winter, the news announced solar activity, and many nights I made my way outside to be welcomed by clouds. After sometime, I pretty much told myself that "I would see it when I see it". The fact that I had my back to them. completely unaware all this time doesn't show me in my best light. I call myself a backyard astronomer and don't even take the time to look at ALL the regions of my backyard? I guess I became too involved in my quest to locate my little Messier Object that I neglected the (ahem) big picture of things to the west!