Observation #7

 1911-2030

Temp: 72 degrees.

Skies: clear.

Astronomer: mellow.

Observations:

Skies are very clear tonight. There is a very full moon and a party of some sort going on nearby which is casting some light into the sky, so it is a bright evening. There is a barred owl calling territory to the south of my position. The astronomer's cat is here as well.

Scope is polar-oriented with a compass.

Focused in on CIH, alias Gamma Cassiopeiae or 27 Cassiopieiae, a star in Cassiopeia. Very clearly sighted tonight. Intensely bright and blue. Scope coordinates verified on this celestial body. Very beautiful. 

Moved to Andromeda. Andromeda is faint from my position, and there is a nice set of stars that I am far too lazy and unskilled to identify in my field of view. It is hard to see for certain, but I feel like I can almost make out some milky borders or definitions - this could simply be a trick of the mind though. 

Mars: bright and visible. Good view with the high-magnification lens. Can see some vague outlines of surface features, by which I mean gross regions delineated by slight changes in color - not individual craters, etc.

Saturn: best viewing yet of this celestial body. Very clear view of the planet and it's rings. Amazing experience. I took a shitty iPhone photo through my lens but it is, as I mentioned, kind of shitty.

Moon: very bright and crystal clear. Many visible landmarks, but I can see why people observe the moon in a non-full phase as the brightness and lack of shadowing can make it difficult to discern specific landmarks. 

The view is sending me on celestial thoughts. Consider Cih. The light I am viewing through my telescope is arriving at my location on Earth 549 years after it was emitted from Chi. (Universe Guide). That means that what I am seeing was emitted in 1471. Pope Paul II died and was succeeded by Pope Sixtus IV; King Alfonso V of Portugal conquered part of Morocco; and much royal intrigue happened in England. (Wikipedia.) Columbus, the notorious genocide enthusiast and explorer, had not yet 'discovered' the landmass on which I now sit. Electricity was not yet harnessed by humans. I had ancestors somewhere in the greater European landmass and somewhere on the Mediterranean, but I have no earthly idea what they were up to; I hope they were having a nice time. Around 8 PM A bunch of photons got shot out into space and, after travelling at the speed of light for almost 550 years, landed in my telescope and triggered some neurons to say "Wow! Look at that pretty blue star!"

What a fun experience. Best session yet. 

Sources:

Universe Guide. (n.d.). CIH (GAMMA CASSIOPEIAE, 27 CASSIOPEIAE) STAR FACTS. Universe Guide. Retrieved December 6 2020 from Cih (Gamma Cassiopeiae, 27 Cassiopeiae) Star Facts - Universe Guide

Wikipedia. (22 Aug, 2020). 1471. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 6, 2020 from 1471 - Wikipedia.