frogesque

Probably, but a bit boring. How about, the eyeball has awoken and is watching us watching them?

Report form my iceometer today: Waterfall at the back is still flowing but very iced up, bird jacuzzi in the middle is still flowing but most of the pond is well iced over. Frost will be starting to get into the ground now so if we do get snow it should lie nae problem.

We used to have a cat that went seriously ape about an hour before it snowed. It would bounce round the house, skid across the floors and tear around over the chairs and furniture. If it was going to rain she would just go and hide somewhere.

Finally! A decent crystal clear frosty night. its the slightly fuzzy bluish green dot right of centre at about the bottom third of the pic. Pleiades are to the top left. Wide angle fast 20mm lens 6 sec exposure, f1.8 at iso eq. 400 .No tracking 6 sec is about the longest exposure I can get without bad star trails - well pleased I managed to snap it given the dreadful light pollution round here.

Siide, Turkey, March 29th. 2006. Perfect weather! Temp drop was considerable and post eclipse there was a 22.5 deg sun halo.

21.15: Fairly easy to spot tonight with the bins. A wee bit below the Pleiades (or Seven Sisters) now and after getting properly dark adapted just about visible with the naked eye. A fierce cold wind made for a very short observation but through the bins I could make out some faint blue/green colouring in the coma rather than a simple grey blob. No tail to speak of was visible but maybe just a very faint hint. As comets go it's really a fuzzy blob without a decent telescope but it is there and the Pleiades are a decent marker from which to work downwards. Nice pic on Spaceweather today http://www.spaceweather.com/

Had a quick blizzard in Thornton an hour or so ago: took some pics before it all disappears

Snow showers and sunny spells here (Thornton), a bit off and on. Some lying on the grass in the shade and paths are slippy but no accumulations to speak of. I expect a good freeze after sunset. Nice pic there from Kelty Snowlover2

Wet, wet and more wet! Oh and it's still raining.

Wet snow falling and temp reading -1C in Thornton, Kirkcaldy. Feels miserable outside. Not sure how accurate that temp is, probably reflects a wet bulb reading.

Poor night for observing but managed to get a glimpse between the low scud. Next door's security light coming on didn't exactly help either.

Much overlooked is the actual ground/soil temperature. To get snow to lay we need a decent frost. My iceometer (garden pond) is completely free of ice after the warm spell so I wouldn't expect any real accumulation to last. That said, the air temp feels very chilly and a few flakes have made it through with the sleet but they are melting on impact with the ground.

Thanks Stargazer We've been hit with torrential rains and the gales here so haven't had an opportunity to get the bins out. Looking like we might get some clear spells tonight.

According to Spaceweather http://spaceweather.com/ Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2 is now a naked eye object (M4.2) from dark sky locations. If the cloud holds off I'm going to have a shot at spotting it with the bins tonight. Just past full moon though so not sure if I'll get the through the pollution and cack from the back door.

4wd: Agreed, if we concentrated more on the actual achievements of the ancients rather than their mythology and religious interpretations we would learn a great deal. Mathematics for example was way ahead of anything the Romans could come up with given the cumbersome system of numerals and the total abscence of a concept like zero or negative numbers. One of the biggest disasters in the ancient world was Alexander (so called) The Great's burning of the library at Persepolis. An ignorant act of pure vandalisim!

As a poetic text it is a classic of epic proportions, as a factual record of India's past technology it's as beliveable as Genesis or or stories from the Greek legends.

Plain b awful morning here! Light rain skelping along and the sort of weather and humidity that chills to the core. Can I hibernate 'till April?

Thanks AWT! Looking good.

We are off to Skye on Monday. Cottage booked for a week over Christmas away from the rellies, inlaws and outlaws. Bit of snow on the Cuillins would be nice but not so much we can't get there - don't mind getting snowed in once we are there though :smiliz64: How's the forecast looking looking - too stressful to search through model threads?

A new Comet Lovejoy, designated C/2014 Q2, is heading our way out of deep space and out of the deep southern sky. It may brighten to 5th magnitude from late December through much of January as it climbs into excellent viewing position for the Northern Hemisphere, high in the dark winter night. More from Sky and Telescope http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/binocular-comet-lovejoy-heading-c2014-q2-lovejoy-1211142/ At mag 5 this comet should be visible with the naked eye on a clear night and in early January should be easy to spot below Orion

I let the dog out about 4oclock this am and saw a fairly bright one pass by Orion. Too cold to stand in my jammies with the door open though.

Clear view of sunset from Bad1

Is that with the cleaver? lol Edit: Sorry - just back off hols from Lanzarote - The island is pure volcano!

Landing and telemetry confirmed!

Sounds as if they have telemetry data