Good grief! Winter hasn't even started and the Northeast has literally been blasted by a "Monster" ice storm, bitter cold temperatures and follow-up snow storms. Enough is enough! Sitting out the winter in the south is terrific, but we've been through many storms so we fully understand what people and property at home are going through and hope and pray "Mother Nature" calms down for the Northeast over the coming winter months.
I still haven't had the telescope out for any stargazing. Light pollution, moisture in the sky and just a hint of laziness is hampering my observing. To boot, the sky is relatively void of planetary objects for a while. Orion is creeping higher in the sky which will be worth setting up for.
I hope you all had a change to observe the "largest" full moon of 2008! If not, there will be another chance to see the "largest" full moon of 2009 in January. Saturn is slowly making its way into the night sky. The rings of Saturn are a real crowd pleaser to view but they are slowly tilting and will soon "disappear!" Fear not, they're tilting edge-on and as they are very thin, the rings will "disappear" for smaller amateur telescopes. However, without our sun's light reflecting off the rings we may actually begin to see other features of Saturn. We may even be able to pick out one or two of Saturn's larger moons. Now that'll make me take out the scope!
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Till next time....
