Meteors and Moons … Oh My!

I completely missed the annual Leonid meteor shower thanks to cloudy and cold conditions and a bout of insomnia that left me tossing and turning and eventually snoozing through my alarm.  I might be able to catch a few strays and stragglers this evening (after midnight if I’m really ambitious), but I think I’ll take out the telescope and zoom in on the Moon and Jupiter (and its moons) this evening.

And speaking of the moon, Sunday will be our next Blue Moon (follow this link to an explanation, definition and debate regarding the definition of ‘Blue Moon’).

Venus, Spica and Saturn visible before dawn Nov 2010
East before dawn, November 2010 (Image made by Starry Night)

If I manage a good night’s sleep, I may even wake early to watch Venus rise before the sun and hope to spy Saturn as well.

This will be my last weekend for stargazing for the foreseeable future.  It’s high time I contacted Meade for an RMA and shipped the telescope off for repairs (estimated to take five to six weeks to complete).  Since the weather is quickly chilling and producing more cloud cover, this may be the best time to get that reconditioning work done.

Either way, with or without a telescope, keep looking up!