foggy dew (Stoney Creek)

As I left Toronto for Linda and Dave's new house is Stoney Creek, I caught the weather segment on 680 News radio: Environment Canada had issued a weather warning for the Hamilton and Niagara areas. Heavy fog was reported in these areas. Damn! It was clear and sunny in Toronto. On seeing the good conditions outside my window, I had decided to pack all my gear so to do some observing from Linda and Dave's location. A site they described as surprisingly dark.

I hit the soup right on schedule, along the QEW Niagara, leaving Burlington, as I began to cross the Skyway Bridge. Ugh. It wasn't looking good.

As we waited for Linda to make the commute from Toronto, I stole glances outside. The Moon was visible! And each time I looked, it improved. Hmmm. Maybe the fog was part of a passing front and it would pass through.

After dinner, I peaked outside again. Stars!

We headed outside. Dave helped me set up the telescope. I targetted the Moon. It looked great. Dave was impressed. He returned to the house to shut off the lights and call Linda. We talked about the Moon at length. Dave wanted to know the age of craters, why some looked newer than others, what the dark regions were.

Next stop: the Pleiades (M45). I had them view it through the finder scope. It clearly showed the gaggle of stars floating on a black canvas. I encouraged them, in the future, to bring their binoculars outside when they had a clear night. It would offer the same view.

I tried to find some Messier objects in Auriga but I was not successful.

M42, the great nebula in Orion, was visible. The Trapezium stars, the large 4, were easy to spot. The molecular cloud was faint but there...

I turned to Albireo. So beautiful. They enjoyed the colours.

I asked if they wanted a challenge. We went for the Double-Double in Lyra. I gradually increased the magnification from 50x to 110x. I could see the double pairs. I think they spotted them too. Linda head indoors to warm up.

Dave asked about some star patterns. We discussed Casseopeia and Perseus.

We were getting chilled so we packed everything in the garage. I checked my Oregon Scientific weather station which I had set on the patio: 95% humidity at 7°. Good for race car engines but not for lightly clothed astronomers.