Sky Circles

While driving down the road the other day I, not surprisingly, looked up in the sky

And saw some circles.

Like the circle in the Yet Another Lunar Halo post, these circles are the result of water in the atmosphere, in this case contrails. Contrails of planes likely circling the Philadelphia airport.

This second image shows a pale Sundog, the bright spot in the upper center, to the right of the overexposed Sun. And the bright spot on the contrail circle, below the Sundog, is a fragment of the 22° Halo, the type of halo shown around the Moon.

Yet Another Lunar Halo

I can't get enough of these things.

And despite the folklore, there were no storms the next day.

Crepuscular Ray

My astronomy club recently had its first observing session at our exclusive 'dark' sky observing site (scare quotes as this is New Jersey and there are no true dark sky sites in NJ), a mere 15 mile form our place.

And while we were waiting for darkness to fall I noticed this rather large Crepuscular Ray.

Just another reason to keep looking up.

Frist World Problems

In the Almost Back post I discussed my travails with electronic versus lightning.

One problem I had was that for reasons that are still not clear, Apple thought my computer wasn't my computer, and that it was actually owned by a company, in that there was MDM (Mobile Device Management) software installed on it. 

Now why there would be Mobile Device Management software on a desktop computer never seemed to cross the mind of the 'genius' at the Apple store, they told me I needed to provide proof, such as a receipt, that the computer was mine.

There were several problems with this.

First, the receipt was on the hard drive of the computer that I did not have. Second, Apple keeps eighteen months of purchase history online and available to customers; I bought this computer nineteen months prior to the incident. Third, I had no connectivity at my place to contact Apple support (recall my modem and router were also fried) and thus to contact them I needed to venture out to where a signal could be had.

So I did. And while I was on the phone with an Apple support rep, one who tried very hard to be helpful, for over an hour (!!!) I was getting more and more frustrated at this whole Catch-22 situation, this appeared in the sky out my car windshield.

And while on hold for the n-teenth time I snapped this image. And calmed down a bit.

Eventually the rep told me that she was unable to get a receipt, but that she had ordered one on my behalf from somewhere else inside Apple, and cautions that it might take several days to arrive (It arrived that evening). 

And it turned out I didn't need it anyway. Some other 'genius' at the Apple store (a super genius perhaps?) figured out that the MDM issue was all a mistake. 

All that stress and frustration for nothing. 

I really needed that vacation ...

Eclipse

There was an Annular Solar Eclipse today, although I was not on the path of annularity. So for me, it would be a partial eclipse. If I got to see it at all.

The eclipse would be in progress at sunrise. And this was the view around dawn in the direction the sun would be rising. Not a promising sight.

But the clouds were kinda cool looking in the morning light.

And in addition to the clouds ...

... we had fog to deal with.

It was a pretty morning. But I didn't get up at 4:00 am for a pretty morning.

Luckily for us, the sun was rising in a notch in the clouds. We could only hope it would rise faster than the clouds were moving.

The 'beam of light' above the rising sun is a solar pillar, a side effect of the clouds.

It did.

And we were happy.

Eventually it rose about the clouds, although the eclipse was also nearing its end.

It would have been nice to see the sun as it rose, the 'horns' facing up. But I as I didn't think we'd see it at all I'm quite happy with what we did see.

Including this sundog. Another side effect of the clouds.

Solar Halos?

This past Saturday while sitting on the deck taking a break from yard work, (installing a deer fence around the other half plus of our yard), I looked up (I know, right?). And I saw a ring around the sun. So I took some pictures. As I didn't think it was all that spectacular a display, I used my iPhone, and didn't bother to go get a 'real' camera. Too lazy and too dirty to go inside.

The bright outer ring is the plain old 22° Halo, seen on this blog on multiple occasions.

It is the ring closer to the Sun that has me wishing I had gone and gotten my 'real' camera. It is a 9° Halo? Is it an artifact of the iPhone optical system?

The display lasted for quite a while. I took this image more than two and a half hours after the first (I did some yard work in-between, I'm not that lazy!). And while the 22° Halo is still quite prominent, the inner ring is barely there if it is at all (there are camera artifacts though). This actually makes me more confident the 9° Halo is real.

Next time I'm gonna get up off my lazy *** and get a camera more suited to this subject.

Until then, keep looking up!

Halo Fragments

While out by the back pond, listening to frogs, checking for tiny turtles, I, as I am want to do, looked up at the sky.

And saw part of the 22° Halo.

And maybe part of the Cricumscribed Halo.

I think it's cool. And it's my blog.

Sky Shadows

The other day I was out and about and to pass the time while at traffic lights or in parking lots I looked up.

It's what I do. And I saw shadows.

It was a great day for contrails. And the geometry was right for this shadow, all the way to the ground.

It is not oblivious what is causing this shadow, or if it even is a shadow. Perhaps it is instead the path the plane carved through the cloud? And if you look very closely at the upper left there is just a hint of a Circumzenithal Arc, very faint colors.

With the Sun so low in the sky, my brain wants the shadow to be above the contrail. but of course the sun is much higher than the clouds and the shadow below the contrail. Silly brain.

Just a few minutes earlier, I was treated to a contrail Sundog.

And to end it all, later that evening back home relaxing on the deck, one final cloud and accompanying shadow.

Keep looking up. I will be.

Moonlit Walk

This past Saturday evening, Patty and I led the monthly Moonlight Walk at Whitesbog. Our friend Tom usually leads these excursions, but he was not available.*

It was a small turnout, in addition to the two of us, only four folks, and one dog, took part. I've been on walks with over thirty participants. Maybe it they heard Tom would not be there? Or maybe the rain earlier in the day discouraged many.

One unusual feature of this month's walk was that we actually saw the moon! More often than not when we go the moon doesn't show, hiding behind clouds. Not this time, although you can see it tried.

A rare event, and everyone wanted a record of it!

I had pointed out the 22° halo around the moon (of course I did). If you look closely you can see the halo on the phone screen in the previous image. Surprisingly, it was a new phenomena for all of them. I say surprisingly as my Mom told me of lunar halos, and the folk wisdom that they foretold rain, when I was a just a wee lad.

🌕  🌕  🌕  🌕  🌕

Before the walk we did a bit of scouting, and birding, 

It looks very different than when dark.

Along the road and in these woods we had Timberdoodles. And in the bogs Ring-necked, Rudy, and Red-headed Ducks. During the walk we had Tundra Swans, noisily flying in to roost in the bogs for the night.

All around it turned out to be a very nice evening.

🤕  🤕  🤕  🤕  🤕

* We've had a bit of a winter weather of late, snow and ice, and Tom slipped, fell, and broke his wrist. And because of this, he is unable to walk. 

Image Courtesy Terry Schmidt

No, I don't understand that either.

At least he looks happy.

Look Up In the Sky

It's a ...

Crepuscular Ray?

Contrail?

I don't really know.

I first thought it was a crepuscular ray, cool as it was alone in the sky. It was aligned with the setting sun, and expanded in the right direction. But one I looked close it seemed more contrail like, the way it suddenly expands for one thing.

An atmospheric mystery (my money's on contrail).

Stakeout

Friday and Saturday evenings this past week found us, and a number of others, at this place.

 Watching and waiting.

Those Were The Days

At the end of the Before Times, just about a year ago, a group of us went to Lake Morey in Fairlee, Vermont. Home of the Lake Morey Resort and its 4.3 mile ice skating trail.  

Patty, three of her ice hockey friends, and I had a very cold yet very enjoyable weekend, although we stayed at a nearby AirBNB and not at the resort.  

Very, very cold.

Me, I don't skate. I fall. So while they were on the ice, I wandered about in the snow.

I found the overhanging roof snow fascinating.

The icicles, originally formed pointing down, now point up.  

And colorful clouds.

We had planned to stay at the Resort the year before, albeit a smaller group, but a blizzard put the kibosh on those plans. So with a larger group we opted for different accommodations, within comfortable walking distance.

The cold was good for something.

In addition to skating we did a bit of hiking.

The Palisades Trail was between the Lake and our weekend abode. Alas, one of the group, Ginger, had taken a nasty spill on the ice, and decide to sit this hike out.

Fortunately it was not breeding season, so we were good to go.

And up we went. And yes, it was a bit of an adventure coming back down.

The trail was well marked. For now.

The view from the top. You can see our domicile from here. It is the place with the light green roof and two dark windows (and not the one with the green sides).

The sun sets early up north, and it was getting dark as we headed back down. As a preemptive measure, I sat and slid part of the way. No falling for me.

In addition to skating, hiking, and drinking, and of course eating (we always have way too much food!) we went cross country skiing.

At the Strafford Nordic Center.

The trails were nicely groomed. And we had a map. 

But we still somehow wound up on the Kamikaze Trail.

We all survived, although I did fall. More than once. And we all had fun. And I would do it again.

❄️  ❄️  ❄️  ❄️  ❄️

This was last February. And not long after everything shut down. It would be our last trip for some time.

Right about now this same group had planned to be in Lake Placid, enjoying similar activities. 

F*#@*#g Pandemic.