Day 4508

I got up early this morning and watched the milky way core rise in the East before dawn. The morning sky is actually more interesting than the evening sky at this time of year. It's pretty dark at 5 AM, but it's late enough so you can still get some sleep. I was able to see Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn all lined up in a nice row, and as the sky started to lighten a very thin crescent moon followed behind them. I didn't try to use the star tracker this morning because the sky was getting lighter instead of darker. I've been having so much trouble with this thing that I knew the sun would probably be up before I could get the tracker working  properly

It was an enjoyable day. I didn't really do much but doing a whole lot of nothing is my kind of day. I walked a few miles before eating a leisurely breakfast and then walked a little more. I'm glad I brought some shorts with me because it was surprisingly warm today. By mid-atenoon the temperature was almost ninety degrees. When it got too hot outside I went to my room and learned a little more about Messier 3, the globular cluster I am supposed to show star party visitors during the festival. I also tried to make sense of the vague star tracker instructions.

An astronomer friend loaned me a tripod to use while I'm here, so I was able to test the star tracker after all. I spent a couple of hours this evening putting the tracker through its paces with decidedly mixed results. When it worked, the tracker was quite impressive. The problem is that it disconnects from the camera at random intervals. This is the problem I've been having since I received the tracker several months ago. I still don't know whether the problem originates in my camera, the Polaris tracker, or the app on my iPhone that controls everything. I did get a few decent pictures tonight, but until the software improves I doubt that I'll be using this thing very much.

It is so quiet up here. It is amazing to take a walk and hear absolutely nothing except for the wind blowing softly through the trees. You hear bird sounds very early in the morning, but they are quiet later in the day. Occasionally you will hear a car off in the distance in the valley below, but not very often. I like the peaceful isolation of this place. If you actually lived here it might get old quickly, but for a few days at a time it is very peaceful. There are no radios or televisions at the Astronomer's Lodge. If you really insist on keeping up with what is going on in the world, there's always Google News on your computer. We do have a good WiFi connection.

I don't know if I'm going to get up early again tomorrow morning. It's hard to get any sleep when you go to bed late and the turn around and get up early. I usually get to bed really late after star parties because I've still got to write the blog after the star party is over. I guess I could sleep during the day like the astronomers do but that is an acquired skill. My body clock is still set to night time sleeping. We'll see how it goes tomorrow with my first real work day. So far, my stay on the mountain has been very enjoyable.

Parker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day