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Friday night, my fellow volunteer, Gary, and I hosted a star gazing event at the top of Pilot Butte here in town. The butte rises almost 5,000 feet in the center of town. Great vantage point. If only we could get the city to turn out the lights.
One of the first things I noticed up there was a forest fire in the direction of the observatory. A phone call revealed a neighboring peak, China Hat, was burning. It produced a whole lot of smoke which drifted into town.
The evening started out crappy with clouds and smoke. It seemed after most of the crowd cleared out, so did the sky. The viewing was pretty decent even with all the light pollution. We talked to the park ranger about possibly coming back in October after the observatory closes.
Saturday, I was back up at Pine Mountain Observatory. A really big cloud followed me in from town.
Luckily it didn’t hang around. Ran into gangsta momma cows.
Momma was about to kick my ass. Can you tell?
It was a great dark night up at PMO. Looked at many objects. When the crowd went home, I took my time really observing some of them, knowing they’d soon set for the season and I’ll have to wait until next summer to see them again. Only six weeks left. I can’t believe that. Where’d the time go?
How was your weekend?
And don’t forget about the What’s Your Chocolate? blogfest on Monday, September 10th. What’s simpler than talking about chocolate? For more detail and to sign up, go HERE.
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we’ve had hardly any stargazing pics and summer is almost over! time has definitely flown!
but thanks for these. saturn is always my favorite! love that its really real! so sci fi!
Saturn did turn out exceptionally nice this week. Great to see you, Tara.
I love seeing Saturn’s rings too. You even got some nice pictures of clouds!
I’m becoming very fond of your gangsta cows. :D
I love the idea of a really big cloud following you …
Fires have made it really hard to get clean air to breathe. I feel your pain. Great shots as always.
Amazing pictures. That is really a picture of Saturn? I know that’s a stoopid question but wow, how do you get a picture like that? :)
Those sunset pics are awesome M Pax.
You could always try to cause a blackout. :)
Awesome pictures! I can’t believe there’s only six weeks left of the season. The summer was really hot, but it feels like autumn is moving in early.
Oh I definitely wouldn’t mess with that Momma cow. Love seeing a Baby Gangsta!
I hope you are able to get back up to Pilot Butte in October. That last picture is awesome and it looks like an awesome place.
I have to admit I’m a little bit jealous. I wished I lived somewhere that I could see such beauty. Keep sharing!!
Wow, these photos are fantastic! It’s amazing the gorgeous effect all the smoke had on the evening sky. What beautiful dark sky pics with the stars.
And that Momma gangsta cow face? Hilarious! Yes, she definitely was giving you a warning glare!
You always have amazing pictures of the sky. The clouds in those are striking and I love the one of Jupiter!
Whoa. That Saturn photo is amazing. And that sure is a LOT of smoke.
I could not help but chuckle when you wrote that the “butte rises almost 5,000 feet in the center of town.” Sorry. Juvenile sense of humor.
That gagsta mama cow really does look like she wants to turn the tables and eat YOU.
Thanks for the great pics of the sky and of your butte!
The sunset cloud photo is amazing.
Wild how far smoke can travel. Our city has endured smoke from fires at the beach almost two hours away.
I was surprised how close the mommas let me get, Laura. I’m quite fond of the gangsta cows, too.
It felt like it followed me, Suze. Glad it went past me eventually.
Another lit up in the Cascades over the weekend. We didn’t get our forecast rain, Michael.
Yes, it’s really Saturn, Anna. I shoot through the telescope. They’d just cleaned the eyepiece, so maybe that’s why it came out so much better this week.
They’re awesome to watch, Maurice. I never tire of standing on the summit and watching the sun slip away.
Brilliantly dark, Libby.
We finally had a hot week last week, Christine. According to the forecast, summer comes to a screeching halt this week … back into the 70′s. Our summers are so short, we never mind a burst of heat.
Baby was cute, Julie. Momma was definitely unhappy with me. Pilot Butte is an awesome place. It’s an old lava butte in the center of town.
Which is why I never want to leave, Ciara. I love, love, love living out here.
That was my best night shot yet, Loretta. Not easy. I’m hoping the book I ordered on my camera arrives before the season ends.
The clouds did look truly amazing, Eagle. I’ll attribute all the smoke from the fires for that rich color.
Saturn is amazing to view. It’ll be too low to see in a few weeks, Brinda.
The one that cracks me up the most, Jay, is Butteville. There’s actually such a place. A Boring, too.
Smoke travels amazingly far, Alex. When the fires are closer, it’ll drift through town like mist.
Beautiful photos as always, Mary.
Oh, man. No matter how many times you see awesome photos, there’s nothing like peering through a telescope and seeing Saturn’s rings. Or Jupiter’s Jovian moons. Lucky lucky lucky
You’ve got some beautiful shots there, Mary. Sorry you lost so much of the crowd to smoke and clouds. Yes, Momma Gangsta looks pretty tough: give her a wide berth. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us!
Isn’t that just amazing? I love seeing Saturn and it does stir up a touch of madness–the good kind–in me. As to those city lights, our city discovered they could save tons of $$$ if they switched to those low-level lights that cast a yellow glow. That definitely made a difference in our night sky.
Thanks, Annalisa.
Looking through the telescopes is awesome, Greta. I hope to see Jupiter in late September.
I don’t mind finding myself alone under the night sky, Allan. I usually stay up at the observatory for awhile after everyone leaves. I look for objects which aren’t so easy for me to find, or they may not find as impressive.
My little city doesn’t use a lot of lights, Lee, but we can see the glow all the way at the observatory, 30 miles away, and we usually don’t point the telescopes toward the city.
Those are great pictures! I love the one of Saturn. And yes, that mama cow looks very angry. I wouldn’t want to mess with her!
What fascinating pictures. I love the one of Saturn- it is such a beautiful planet. Sorry to hear and see the wildfire. There have been so many of them this summer. That mama cow certainly did not look happy!!! Glad you were able to have some great views. :)
Cows!
And such great pictures. :)
We’ve had very few clear viewing nights this summer in my neck of the woods. Much as I hate the cold, it seems like the best nights are in the dead of winter. My hubby used to wrap up and drag out his telescope – I only lasted ten minutes or so :-)
That cow was definitely giving you the “stinkeye” .
LOVE that saturn shot… and all those gangsta cows (scary hehehe).
Gangsta cows for sure. You can tell by all the body piercings and brands. That’s hard-core stuff.
I think she was about to take me out, Sherry.
I love looking at the planets, Jess. Saturn and Jupiter are show stoppers.
They let me drive right up next to them, Cherie.
Orion is great viewing in the winter, Li.
I thought the white cow was kind of sweet, Lynda. The other one … well, her attitude is obvious.
They are hard core, Rusty.