The Night Sky 12/21/10

Well! Wasn't that fun! The lunar eclipse watch a Pine View was a grand success. My parents were pretty convinced that I was crazy to stay up until five, but hey, it's educational. Besides it's not like the moon is eclipsed every night. Speaking of the eclipse, I thought that it would be a brief moment's fun, but it wasn't. The gradual shadowing and reddening of the moon leading up to the peak was absolutely as good as the total eclipse! The night was very cold, I spent much of it under blankets and just looking at the stars. I braved removing myself from the blankets only twice, once to see a star cluster that I can no longer remember the name of (hence why we post as soon after observing as possible) and again to see Saturn's rings. Well worth the few minutes of freezing. The Pleaides continues to inspire, especially with binoculars and the Hyades is cool as well. Saw some constellations, Orion of course, Taurus, Canis Major, Pegasus, and Triangulum. Well, maybe I saw Triangulum, but it's very easy to pick any three stars and call it Triangulum. Life. Anyway, it was a good time for sure.