Look Up In The Sky

And you'll see cool things.

Ok, so maybe you won't really see this, although you'll see some of it.

The three bright stars forming a diagonal line across the upper part of the image are Orion's Belt. At the bottom is the Orion Nebula. Both the Belt and Nebula are visible to the naked eye.

Some of the other bits, including the Flame, Running Man, and Horsehead Nebulas require a telescope, or as here, a camera.

⭐️    🪐    🌕    🪐    ⭐️

I took this image in February 2012 at the Winter Star Party in the Florida Keys. And during a recent online meeting of my Astronomy Club, while looking for a different image to present, I stumbled upon this image and made a note to reprocess it. And so I did,

I hope you like it.

Keep looking up!

St. Jim

The Solar Corona post sent me searching for an image of one I had seen in Florida at the Winter Star Party.

From 2005.

Wow. Fifteen years ago, give or take a month.

The silhouette is of my friend Jim, who used to live a few miles down Route 206 from me. And who now lives in Florida. Happily retired. Bastard.

His head makes a good sun block. Nice and thick. Solid.

I used the the latrine building for this shot.

And a telephone pole for this one. I think Jim's head was the best.

If only he was visiting my office last week ...

Keep looking up!

Cloudy Night

Lonely red lights dot the observing field, telescopes stand unattended. Silent sentries gathering no starlight.

Disappointment growing, we sit telling tales of other nights, better, worse, different, same.

Still hoping.

Stars winking out of sucker holes. It's clearing! It's not. It is! It isn't.

We wait still hoping.

The group thins, chairs empty, hopes waning. Some of us wait, inertia now.

But still hoping.

One cloud lit up, curiously bright. Stationary. Flickering. Strange. What is that? Aurora? Aliens? Hand of god?

(which god?)

(which hand?)

Transfixed we watch. Patterns flickering. Intellectually challenged  We now welcome the clouds. Needing more data.

(we're a nerdy bunch)

We search for answers. A fishing boat, trawling offshore? Nope.

Customs searching for smugglers? Nope.

Cars on the bridge? Nope.

More folks gather. Transfixed. Brainstorming. Consensus emerges.

Prosaic, a spotlit flag. Over at the scout camp. Curiosity satiated we still watch. Still fascinated.

The rainbow explained is still beautiful.

2010

Yeah It's been done. But great minds think alike ...

January: Sunbathing

February: Blizzard? What Blizzard?

March: Oh, Mexico ...

April: Why's Everyone Looking Up?

May: ... It's a Hell of a Town!

June: It's an Adventure!

July: Shadows and Light

August: 27 (?) Years and Counting

September: Water and Time

October: Falling, Falling ...

November: Hey, That's My Spot!

December: Light and Shadows

Jim vs. the Coral

“Whew this was a nightmare, the Winter Star Party from hell, much worse than the Fire Ant attack years ago (same leg).” - Jim Sweeny

Groggily throwing off my dreams, I’m awakened by shouting, “Hey, turn those white lights out! This is a star party.” Huh, who’s observing in gale force winds and a torrential downpour? “Just give me ten minutes, ten minutes and I’ll be ok.” Ten minutes of light? What’s Jim up to? “Somebody call 911!” Whoa, I’m awake now.

I climb out of my car and stumble over to all the commotion. My first words, “Jimmy, get to a fucking hospital!”.

*****

Flash back a couple of hours ...

“AAANT! AAANT! AAANT! This is NOAA all hazards radio with a emergency bulletin. A severe storm warning has been issued for the lower keys, including Key West and Marathon until 6:45 PM ...”

The weather radio alerted us to a squall line rapidly approaching from Florida Bay. Lighting, heavy rain, waterspouts (cool!), hail, and winds of 60 MPH or more.

This is not good.

On the last day of the 2008 Winter Star Party, as we were all packing up to leave, a similar squall, with somewhat less intense wind gusts, had literally blown my tent inside out. Destroying two of the four tent poles in the process. No way my tent would survive 60+ MPH winds.

Less than an hour to prepare. And most of our companions had gone off to dinner or shopping or to be tourists in the Keys. (Dave, Jim, and I had just returned from dinner.) Dave elected to completely take down his tent and sleep in the back of his rented minivan that night. Jim and I decided to lower our tents, presenting less surface area to the winds. We both used chunks of coral rock to weigh down the tents, lest the wind lift them up and send them to Cuba.

Jim’s Tent (note coral block in just right of center)

This was a fateful decision.

We then went about stowing anything and everything that could fly about in our area, running for the relative shelter of our vehicles when the rain started.

Storm Front Is Here!

The rain and lightning and wind came (no hail or waterspouts though). Some tents collapsed, stuff blew around, and tents filled with water. But, perhaps because of that half hour we had to prepare, it was mostly a non-event.

*****

Back to the present ...

Jimmy was bleeding. Badly. Fortunately, there was a doctor in the house (or the camp, as were the case) and the Winter Star Party has a Monroe County Sherif’s Deputy on site 24/7 for the duration. And they were both attending to Jim.

I'm certified in wilderness first aid (or at least I was, I probably need to re-certify). But I was relieved that my rusty skills would not be tested. So I went and got my camera (hey, it's what I do).

Not for the faint of heart, click here to see just how much blood.

911 had been called, and help was on the way (I could hear the sirens).

*****

Lots of sirens. First a pickup truck came in. First aid first responder. Ok.

Then a fire truck. A fire truck?

Then the rescue vehicle (a big ambulance).

Then an SUV.

Four vehicles. There was a lot of blood and all, but did we really need four vehicles? And what did they plan to do with the fire truck?

Close Encounters of the Coral Kind

*****

They patched Jim up and loaded him on a stretcher for the ride to the hospital in Marathon.

Stretching Out

Soon he was good to go and in seeming good spirits.

I’m Good!

They then took fifteen or so minutes to figure out how to get all those vehicles out of the camp. All the while we stood around trying to figure out what the fire truck was for. Never did come up with a good answer.

*****

Remember that coral? Here’s a picture, taken the next morning. The brownish stains are dried blood.

The Coral, Winner and Still Champion

While reassembling his tent, Jim dropped his flashlight (and his backup light was packed away). And while moving around in the dark, he re-encountered that “big #*&^%$ piece of coral".

With disastrous results.

He needed twenty plus stitches. Two different antibiotics (apparently coral cuts are nasty). And he lost a big chunk of skin, which may require a graft. Ouch.

But Jim was all patched up and in good spirits Saturday morning.

All Patched Up

That’s a big bandage. And yeah, that’s blood on the ground.

But with his breakfast cigar and pepsi, Jim is back in form. And he says, “I’ll be back”.

The rematch is scheduled for one night during the week of February 1st, 2011. Be sure to get your tickets early.

Two Weeks From Today ...

I, and others like me from across the country and around the world, begin what for many of us has become an annual journey; a migration south each February, to a very specific location at the bottom of the east coast of the United States.

Stop over points for me include the everglades, home of wooded streams ...

... and sawgrass prairie (backlit at sunset with the Belt of Venus).

Then onward to the final destination, West Summerland Key, which is curiously located east of Summerland Key.

Where I'll join up with a dozen or so club mates and 500 other like mind souls at the Winter Star Party. Where after the sun goes down plenty of other stars come up. And we'll spend our nights gazing up (or down through the eye pieces of our telescopes) in amazement and wonder.

I can't wait.

-----------

Images from previous trips can be found here.

Sunday Six: March 1st

Winter Star Party's Mascot

The only kind of snowman you'll see in the Florida Keys. He's there every year greeting us as we arrive for the Winter Star Party.

Pelicans and Terns

The National Key Deer Refuge is one island over from the star party. And we took a ride over one day to see what we could see. This dock was actually outside of the the refuge. But the birds didn't seem to mind.

Mangrove Buckeye

There were butterflies all along the road ways in the refuge. These buckeyes were quite common.

Key Deer

Unfortunately I do not have a good shot to give the scale of these creatures. They are the size of a large dog, up to one's waist. They didn't seem to mind us and after while just walked right on over. Expecting food no doubt. I was using a long lens and was to close to focus when they walked up to us.

Tree Snail

Seeing shells in trees was something new for me.

Cowfish

I'll finish this six with an image of the cowfish minding its manners.

Sunday Six: February 22nd

Double-crested Cormorant

A six pack of shots taken on my visit to the Everglades last month as I catch up on my sixes. This was taken at the Anhinga Trail on my first evening there.

Osprey Chick

The next morning I headed back into the park. My first stop was the Flamingo area. One of the rangers there told me that this chick and its nest mate had yet to make their first flight. And while they both exercised their wings, they stayed nest bound.

Key Mirage

The view in the other direction form the osprey nest is out over the bay to the Keys. This key appears to be floating over the bay, a type of mirage known as a superior mirage.

Snowy Egrets

I then left Flamingo working my way back through the park. But at one stop I met a fellow visitor who told me of some roseate spoonbills at Eco Pond back at Flamingo. So back I went. These egrets were also enjoying watching the spoonbills.

Spoonbill and Egret

It's easy to see how the spoonbill got its name. I'd seen spoonbills before in the Everglades. But never close enough to photograph. Here they came within 20 meters.

Owl Power

My last stop was at Mahogany Hammock as I had been told of barred owl chicks. I met the woman who had told me about the spoonbills at Eco Pond in the parking lot. And I returned the favor by finding the barred owl chicks for her.

It was a very nice morning in the Everglades.

365 Theme 170: Legs

Portrait of bird named for its legs. Can you name it?

365 Theme 352: Watch

For whatever the spoonbill stirs up. As that will be breakfast for the egrets.

365 Theme 353: Water

In motion.

This is a cowfish, so named for the "horns" over its eyes. I found several of them in tidal pools on West Summerland Key. But this was the only one spitting. I have no idea why it was doing this nor what it was spitting at. It would swim around the pool, then up to the edge, and spit. Curious.

If anyone knows why it did this or what specific species of cowfish this is please let me know via the comments. Thanks.

365 Theme 296: Song Lyrics

It's a B52's song.

365 Theme 354: Water's Edge

365 Theme 112: From The Sea

This barracuda lives in the Blue Hole in the National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key in Florida (almost as bad as the last post!). It wasn't always this way. The Blue Hole is in the center of Big Pine Key, and is not connected to the ocean. It is a lake that has a fresh water lens (from rainwater) on top of a salt water base (from the water table). Barracuda are ocean fish. So what is it doing in a lake in the middle of an island? It was literally blown in from the sea. The storm surge from a hurricane (the ranger wasn't sure which one) carried this fish as well as a single tarpon in.

365 Theme 208: On The Road

Watson Boulevard, No Name Key, Florida, USA, Earth, Solar System, Orion Arm, Milky Way, Local Group, Virgo Supercluster.

365 Theme 256: Reflections

Earthshine, light from the sun reflected off of the Earth and then again off of the Moon and onto the sensor in my camera. All for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

365 Theme 169: Leaves

And if you look up from the signs you see this. I like how this image looks very three dimensional to me.