[Friends_of_SSASTROS] Oh So Close...

[Mike McCabe]

Greetings, Fellow Sky Afficionados,
In the category of 'practicing what I preach', last night I ventured off to one of my favorite low-western horizon sites in hopes of catching the most recent Starlink satellite train in a pair of binos. As mentioned in yesterdays missive on the matter, they would be passing directly below the belt of Orion, so how much easier does it get to land your quarry than that?
Apparently, very much, depending on certain details...one being that little thing we call 'cloud cover'. When I left my house the sky was completely socked in, but I was sure to pack along a big ol' pack of faith that things would improve. Getting to the Nip (Lake Nippenicket in Bridgewater) just before 8:30pm the sky was still socked in, but I've seen crazier things happen so I backed into my favorite parking spot and settled in for the wait.
Sure enough, breaks soon started to appear in the northwest and seemed to be pushing southward. Perfect! The high winds seemed to be helping, and the package of faith was still completely intact.

In the top panel above we can see my view across the lake at 8:54pm, just two minutes before the big moment of the satellites passing below Orion's belt. Unfortunately Orion's belt wasn't visible, nor would it become so. Sometimes things just work out like that. In the lower panel I've overlaid a screenshot from Stellarium and set the opacity to a very sexy 48% see-thru. I needed those clouds to move on a little quicker than they did, but as my mother would sometimes tell me when I was being a demanding child, "the world does not revolve around you, Michael." Dammit.  
An now for a not so subtle reminder for all members and friends of the SSAS: WE HAVE AN OBSERVING SESSION TONIGHT AT CENTENNIAL FIELD. WHY NOT COME OUT FOR AN HOUR OR TWO AND ENJOY A LITTLE STAR GAZING WITH YOUR FELLOW PEEPS? BRING A SCOPE, BRING BINOS, OR JUST BRING YOURSELF. IT'S ALL GOOD.    BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!
Sincerely,
Mike M.
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