"Oh, just looking for flying saucers," he would joke and everyone would laugh and ask him what sort of flying saucers he was looking for. "Green ones!" he would reply with a wicked grin, laugh wildly for a moment and then suddenly lunge for the nearest bar and buy an enormous round of drinks. - Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Late last year I was finally able to take pictures of what I look at, night after night, weather permitting, from my yard, for the past 15+ years. The pictures aren't exactly Hubble Telescope quality, but they explain what the looney in the other yard is doing out there at all hours, in all weather.
The ones that have borders have much larger, much more interesting versions. Click 'em and see.
My first Aurora, November 5, 2001. The constellation Cygnus showing through the red areas is what tipped me off that this wasn't just clouds.
This was the partial Solar eclipse that took place on December 25th of 2000.
A few days later, the waxing Moon and Jupiter made an appearance.
The Big Dipper over the yard one night in mid-July, 2001
The same, about a week later.
Cygnus, the Swan, flying around the Gum Tree one morning in July, 2001
The Summer Square
Mars in Scorpio.
Saturn, Venus, the Pleiades and the Moon near Taurus.
The Same, a few seconds later with the addition of a blurry thing near the phone line.
Taurus
Taurus, a little closer
My first glimpse of Orion for the season, August 26, 2001. I managed to see a Perseid that morning as well, but missed seeing Comet Petriew.
These three were just pictures I got by aiming the camera at the sky and using the overexposure setting. I didn't know I had anything until I adjusted the levels.
