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The dessert tonight will be a supernova drenched in northern light sauce!

stolenfeather

By stolenfeather
in Observing - Discussion

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stolenfeather

stolenfeather

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September 9th, 2011

The stargazing forum had been abuzz for the last couple of days about a supernova that had been recently discovered in the Pinwheel Galaxy (M 101). Boasting an easy find, I decided to give it a whir after a succulent supper of lobster tails, rice and broccoli (I'll eat broccoli with just about everything).

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The supper was perfect and adding a glass of wine from the Loire Valley made it sublime! I left the table for a well deserved dessert,... a galaxy and it's supernova! Unfortunately, I encountered a couple of inconveniences. You see, the Gibbous Moon was casting way too much light and what was not basked in our natural satellite's glory was overtaken by wisps of auroras! The entire night sky seemed all aglow! Inconveniences couldn't come with more beauty!

Some students came by for a look and what astounded them was not the auroras since they are pretty much a common happening in the north but the moon. It was the first time they experienced it through a telescope and they were completely taken aback! Come now,.. why would they NOT be?

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My students were full of questions and listened carefully to what I was saying but deep down, I knew what they wanted to see. A couple of nights before, I had showed another bunch of young enthusiasts the planet Jupiter and that's all they could talk about the next day at school. These new faces wanted to see it too. We therefore brought the telescope to the front of the house where the Roman God had taken center stage. "Behold the mighty Jupiter!", I said as I let them look through the eyepiece. When I told them to count the stars they saw around them, they gladly said, "4!". Imagine their surprise when I said that they were not stars at all but the planet's moons!

This is exactly what they saw through my telescope and that's all it took to make them gasp in wonder.

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I then reached for my Barlow which increased the image by two. I think I did it,... these young ones are hooked. There's only one problem though. I don't think I'll be able to look at the night sky alone ever again!

Isabelle

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ChrisEdu

ChrisEdu

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I hope the gloom and grey skies change soon for you Chris! Ugh,... sounds like my nights last week! Sick of clear nights? NEVER! It's mine, mine,... my precious cough Gollum!

Alright, I might need a new life though! :)

Isabelle

LOL! So, is that a maybe?! :(:)

Oh, how I wish I was back in Canada!

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ChrisEdu

ChrisEdu

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You forget the long winters. Does - 45 sound good to you? That's what I have in the month of February in the isolated north of Quebec. However, the skies are sharp and clear. If it wasn't for the frostbite, I would be in heaven!

Isabelle

I like cold weather much more than the warm. I certainly know about the weather extremes over there, my mum was born in St. Boniface (ok - not really extreme) and my grandfather from Saskatchewan (not sure where exactly).

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