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Fall shoved summer aside on Friday in Central Oregon. Only in the lower 70′s in town, it never broke out of the 60′s up at the summit of Pine Mountain. After sunset, it got colder. So much colder. Sweater, fleece, winter coat, mittens, winter hat, thermal socks … I need to invent knee warmers. It wasn’t quite cold enough for thermal underwear, I would have been sweating, but my knees get cold. I need knee muffs. I want knee muffs.
Click on any photo for a larger view.
I stopped to take some photos at the bottom. A lot of paragliders were enjoying the thermals off of one of the summits. [Pine mountain has several summits]
Late summer creates unique shadows. That white thing high above is the moon.
I don’t think I could jump off a mountain with a piece of fabric strapped to my back, but they’re fun to watch.
Sun setting over Millican Valley, Oregon.
Ran into this young buck on my way up to the summit.
When I hear twilight, I think of a darkening sky with stars and planets popping out, not vampires.
The line over the trees is the ISS passing over us. Enlarge this. It’s much nicer when you can see the Big Dipper, too.
UFOs. Not really. :D I forgot to take the filter off that protects the lens. If I don’t, the Moon makes these reflections. And that’s either the ISS or an airplane moving through the shot. The Moon is in Scorpius.
And my best Moon shot:
Saturday was warmer, but smokier.
It turned Saturn orange. Saturn is so low in the sky, we may get to view it briefly next week. But not much longer.
In tribute to Neil Armstrong, we looked up the location of the Apollo 11 landing on the computer, then we all looked at that region in the telescopes. Next weekend is blue moon, the 2nd full moon in the month.
And, oh wow, we have to say good-bye to Neil Armstrong. I confess the news of his passing made me cry. He is the whole reason I’m fascinated by space which led me to science fiction. When I saw him walk on the Moon when I was in first grade, it awed me. It was one of those moments in my life I’ll always remember, the pure wonder and amazement of it all. From that day on, I asked: What’s out there? Thank you for a life time of inspiration, Neil Armstrong. Happy journeys through the universes.
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Oops, forgot to turn comments on. They’re on now.
I was just going to email you about that!
Amazing photos. No way I’d jump off a mountain though.
I was living abroad when he walked on the moon, so I didn’t see it.
And is that a gansta deer?
Those photos of the moon are incredibly beautiful. And I’m still in awe of the fact that Neil Armstrong was there! It was an amazing feat.
Wonderful photos! So sad about Neil, but I know he’ll continue to inspire for a long time to come. Am I the crazy one that would be willing to jump off the mountain? I’d love to try it one time. Maybe not the landing part, but I’d love to fly.
wow, so many fantastic photos. That first one is spectacular.
I reckon you could make a million dollars selling knee muffs… but not in Oz ;)
If you invent yourself some knee muffs, we need pictures! :D
Great pictures! The moon and Saturn ones were spectacular. I still have pictures I took of the moon and Mars in college.
I was sad about Armstrong, as well. Not a good year for space pioneers. Love that you looked up where he landed!
No not a gangsta buck. His girlfriend seemed a bit gansta tho, Alex. She ran in front of the car while I was taking his photo.
I’m still in awe, too, LG.
I’ll watch you fly, Christine.
Not cold enough in Oz for knee muffs, huh, Lynda?
Will do, Shannon. I may work on some this winter.
Neil Armstrong lived in a town where I used to work when I was a teen. I probably met him and was too clueless to know it. Great pictures.
The moon pic is my favorite!!!
He’d be an interesting person to talk to, Tonja.
There’ll be lots of moon next Monday, Libby. That’s all we’ll have to look at this weekend.
I was so touched by your tribute to Neil Armstrong. I didn’t realize that it was his walk on the moon that sparked your fascination with space. Those last two photos were especially moving.
Neil was handsome too. Great of you to do a shout out to him and include it with observatory pics.
You were so close to that young buck. I SO wish I could come visit. How inspiring it must be.
Fantastic photos. I especially love that one of the Moon! Wow, how did you take it?
I will be visiting Oregon coast soon (Seaside and Canon Beach). It’s not too far from Seattle :-)
Neil Armstrong will be forever remembered. What a remarkable man.
Neil’s passing was so sad to read about, but now he’s past the moon and into the stars. You always have such beautiful pictures to share. I love the chance to get out of the city for short periods of time.
Yup, it was that very moment, Loretta. Inspiration that stayed with me since.
He was a handsome man, Michael.
It only appears so, Ciara. that was zoom and cropping.
I take the moon shots through my telescope, Angela. Great to see you.
Yes, he’s part of the cosmos now, Michael.
Awesome pics as usual :)
It is very sad about Neil Armstrong. All of those astronauts are true heroes and very inspirational. Just imagine what kind of courage it took to do what they did.
When I hear how the first moon lander was constructed, I think maybe they were a bit nuts, Jon. Then again, to venture off the planet would be an awesome thing.