While watching the local weather forecast on television in 2001, I was amazed that the weather forecaster claimed that what I thought was Venus on his "sky camera" pictures was really the International Space Station (ISS). The sun had barely set, Venus was obviously in the picture although it had moved slightly toward the horizon, and when I had seen the ISS previously, it moved faster than the object in his time lapse video. I figured he was wrong. Well, maybe he wasn't accurate in pointing out that the bright thing was Venus. But it looks from the satellite predictions that the ISS very well may have been in that video.
You can determine whether you can see the space station and other things astronomical from your location by visiting the Heaven's Above web site. Here are links to the Heaven's Above pages for places where people I know live:
Try Heavens Above to do your own location. This really works, but remember that the times are given in 24-hour format. 05:56 means 5:56 AM. The space station doesn't zip by overhead. It moves like a plane without flashing lights.A couple of days ago, people on the Weather Channel gave vague times for when the space station (with the shuttle attached) could be seen. They would have done well to mention Heavens Above. Heavens Above had shuttle links displayed prominently.
So once I knew it was possible, I bought a camera to record the aurora the few times we can see it. In November 2004, we saw it again. And this time I got pictures.
I've also put together a set of annotated aurora links.
Some sites to check out:
-Solar Terrestrial Dispatch great predictions and pictures
-NOAA's Space Environment Center
-NOAA's aurora PDF 4 pages of very useful information ready to print
-Michigan Tech's Aurora page
My actual location is west of Lancaster at 39.986 N and 76.401 W (-76.401).
On April 29, 2004, I observed Comet Bradfield in early twilight. I obviously haven't been keeping this updated. Oh well.
In July 2001, we had a late evening rain shower just before sunset. It produced a very high double rainbow over the house. Beautiful to view, yet impossible for me to capture on film.
We observed the partial eclipse of the sun on Christmas Day 2000. We punched many pin holes (#22 tapestry needle) in a sheet of card stock. We projected the multiple images on a large sheet of white paper. All from the cozy comfort of the den.
On Sunday, December 17, 2000, a series of thunderstorms rolled through our area with the storms moving from south-southwest to mostly north. The heavy weather cleared, and about 11:30am I decided to head outside to do some trimming. I had on my shoes and was ready to go out in the bright sunshine when I realized it was raining - hard. Normally, when I see rain and sunshine I wonder whether the sun is low enough for a rainbow. It was almost noon, but it was also almost the winter solstice and I am almost at 40 degrees north. The sun was low enough to give a beautiful full double rainbow over my neighbor's house on the north side of the street.
I continue to be awestruck by the immensity of the universe.
I didn't plan this. I bought the house used. My only regret is that they get extremely warm during the summer. So we put up fabric window shades in late spring. But winter nights as I get ready for bed, I turn off the lights and enjoy the stars in the warmth of my bedroom. One other side effect is that sometimes the moon shines in my eyes. But that's only a few nights a year.
I followed Hale-Bopp from July 1996 to May 1997. I am proud to say that I saw Comet Hale-Bopp the morning of March 6 about 4:30am as well as the evening of March 6 about 7pm. And then we watched it whenever it was visible. Even my two- and almost four-year-old children could find it. Even two years later, I occasionally glance to the northwest almost expecting to see it but knowing full well it isn't there.
On March 27th, 1997, we had the best star observing you can expect with two very small children in tow. The weather was comfortable. Helen (age 3) was pointing out Cassiopeia, Orion, and Betelguese. Mark (age 2) was pretending to be an airplane but pointed and said "comet" as well as "Where's moon?"
Check out the pictures and finder charts in the links below.
Cathie Farr has more realistic stitched versions of astronomical bodies. I think the pictures on those web pages are not of the stitching.
I'd like to design more stylized constellation stitching, but in what spare time? I think I'll start with Leo, Cygnus, and then Orion. I have a sketch of the first two. Yes, I've seen the astronomy/astrology chart in the October 1998 issue of Mary Hickmott's New Stitches. It isn't my style.
There are some needlework charts involving aurora including Jeannette Douglas's Northern Lights Sampler (look toward the bottom). Needlework just doesn't capture the ephemeral yet dynamic nature of the northern lights.
I didn't really pay enough attention to the stars until I was in college and kept accidentally "discovering" meteor showers and the beauty of the stars on camping trips and while walking across campus after late nights programming.
My husband and I started following comets and finding "fuzzies", so we used some wedding money from my grandfather to buy 20x80 astronomical binoculars. They've been well used as hand-held instruments.
Now, when I want to know what's in the sky a particular day, I look in Guy Ottewell's Astronomical Calendar (Universal Workshop). It's an excellent hardcopy resource. I also check Sky & Telescope's Sky at a Glance.
Some other places to learn include: