Flagstaff, AZ February 14, 2020
Decided to head back to the Observatory this afternoon. The morning presentation repeat in the afternoon, so I knew I didn't have to rush. The evening presentation don't repeat and there are two sets of presentations that run at the same time. So I wanted to be there early enough to catch the 2nd set of evening presentations and I wanted daylight hours to be able to walk the property and read the signs and historical markers. I decide to leave me camera in the car, as I took a number of photos the previous weekend and the telescopes wouldn't really change.
I'm in through the Visitors Center for less than 5 minutes and I find these cute little birds that were posing nicely for me...if I'd had a camera. I sigh and move on...and what do I see? Acorn Woodpecker. Yep. I haven't seen good birds in months as they've mostly all migrated for the winter. I've got ravens everywhere, but my fascination with those got old somewhere around New Mexico. There is no way I can get that woodpecker with my phone, phones were not intended for bird photography. I grit my teeth and move on...I'm still in the main path. Two bald eagles fly over my head. That was it, back to the car and got my camera. By the time I got back all the birds were gone. It was very frustrating. I kept the camera with me and eventually got the woodpecker but the eagles were long gone.
I sat through the additional presentations and really enjoyed them. The previous week I'd been there, it had been a full moon and it limited what we could see in the telescopes. This time, there was no moon and all the telescopes were pointed at interesting things. I looked and saw through two different telescopes two different galaxies: the Starburst Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy. Venus was also out and very bright. Through the telescope you could see more than just its brightness, you could see the planet and at the angle we could see it at, it was half in light and half in darkness. I was going to go check out the Clark Telescope too, but they were looking at the O'Ryan nebula and I'd seen that the previous weekend. It was very cool. I might get a telescope at some time if I build a little cottage in the woods.
I'm in through the Visitors Center for less than 5 minutes and I find these cute little birds that were posing nicely for me...if I'd had a camera. I sigh and move on...and what do I see? Acorn Woodpecker. Yep. I haven't seen good birds in months as they've mostly all migrated for the winter. I've got ravens everywhere, but my fascination with those got old somewhere around New Mexico. There is no way I can get that woodpecker with my phone, phones were not intended for bird photography. I grit my teeth and move on...I'm still in the main path. Two bald eagles fly over my head. That was it, back to the car and got my camera. By the time I got back all the birds were gone. It was very frustrating. I kept the camera with me and eventually got the woodpecker but the eagles were long gone.
I sat through the additional presentations and really enjoyed them. The previous week I'd been there, it had been a full moon and it limited what we could see in the telescopes. This time, there was no moon and all the telescopes were pointed at interesting things. I looked and saw through two different telescopes two different galaxies: the Starburst Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy. Venus was also out and very bright. Through the telescope you could see more than just its brightness, you could see the planet and at the angle we could see it at, it was half in light and half in darkness. I was going to go check out the Clark Telescope too, but they were looking at the O'Ryan nebula and I'd seen that the previous weekend. It was very cool. I might get a telescope at some time if I build a little cottage in the woods.
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