For the first time in ages, I have been shut out by the weather for an entire month. My last observation report is dated October 30, 2008. The whole month of November has been cloudy. We've already had snow twice and are expecting something like 6-8 inches on the ground by Monday evening.
I've managed to keep very busy, getting a lot done at work and spending the week around full moon in Cambridge at AAVSO headquarters for meetings with the Director and staff. But enough is enough! I need some starlight to get my attitude right again.
I'd even settle for a couple so-so nights to complete shaking down the CCD telescope. Even that looks unlikely in the next week or so.
The upside is I'll have a little more time to devote to the blog in the coming week. I have a half dozen articles in various stages of completion, and I hope to publish a few of them soon.
2 comments:
I feel your pain, having grown up observing variables in the north of England. About the only consolation is that the sky will be different and all your stars will be doing something new.
I remember being frustrated with a three week period of cloud and rain in February/March 1972. When I looked around on the first clear night, I found that R CrB had started a fade. Boy, that was exciting.
I got five hours in during November. Thanksgiving eve. I'm south of the wedge, and observed from Island Lake. We could see a line of clouds just to the North the entire night. That's where you are. It's unusual for there to be clouds north of the wedge and not south.
Summer may be over, but having survived 5 hours of cold has made it easier to tolerate the cold now. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
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