A Break in the Clouds...

By John Reed

Several club members began discussing having a starparty on the weekend of July 21, 22.  All that week the sky was a crystal clear blue, punctuated with fair weather cumulus which later in the afternoon would gradually become towering cumulonimbus.  On several days during that week I can recall watching through my truck's windshield as towering thunderheads moved ponderously across the late afternoon horizon.  These huge behemoths grew and bulged in that pure blue sky until it appeared they must surely burst in a torrent of rain or hail.  Often they were far away, but because they were miles in height, they were easily visible.  They looked like fiery orange pavilions, rooted in a dark, distant horizon.  The weather seemed to be in a stable pattern all those days, with only a partial chance of rain due to these late afternoon wanderers.  "If only we could get a night on the weekend where they miss us, the skies would be wonderful!", I thought.

Well Friday rolled around and we had a storm pass the Little Rock area early in the day.  After its passage, the skies were even more transparent than ever, with only an occasional puff-ball cumulus passing overhead.  We had about decided on observing Saturday night as the weather report seemed to be indicating a better chance of clear skies on Saturday.  Because of the storms passing early, I thought that we should change our plans and pursue Friday.  So it was that Chris Lasley, David Reynolds, Bill Frankie and myself met at the Property that night, wondering if the last few clouds would dissipate.

Well, because these type of clouds survive on heat driven convection, once night falls they sometimes dissipate.  Once the power source (the Sun) is removed they simply evaporate!  Well, this is exactly what happened.  We were ecstatic.  The sky was one of the clearest I have ever seen during the month of July.  Usually the atmosphere in July and August become very stagnant and a temperature inversion allows haze to form, turning the day time sky almost white.  Fortunately, that night we had a slight breeze which not only kept the dew off, but made for great transparency.  It was simply beautiful.

As the sky grew dark and the last remnants of cloud disappeared, the stars of midsummer began to quietly shine with increasing intensity.  After making a trip to the neighbors to turn off his light, our eyes grew more night adapted.  I first noted Arcturus, brightest star in Bootes.  This bright kite like constellation hung in the east, announcing the night.  Corona Borealis lay next to this "kite" a charming semicircle neck lace of bright diamonds.  Of course I had to sweep up Messier number 5 (M5) in nearby Serpins (serpent held by Ophiuchus).  This bright globular is a grand site in my 10" binos!  It was splattering of tiny, intense stars almost like a buckshot pattern.

Further to the south the planet Jupiter drew my eyes towards it's brilliance.  As the brightest object in the sky, it seemed that it could almost cast shadows.  A quick glance with the binos showed its turbulent cloud belts and dancing moons.  As we watched one moon disappeared behind the giant planet.  Near Jupiter, angry red Antares marked the heart of Scorpius (the scorpion).  Of course globulars M4, M80 and NGC 6144 were an easy point from the red giant star.  Each globular similar to M5, yet subtly different.  6144 was almost at the limit of my instrument, yet I could faintly see a soft cotton puff of light against a dark void.

Across Ophiuchus I spotted even more globulars, jumping from star-ball to star-ball.  I even stopped briefly at M13 in Hercules even though I had looked at it a hundred times before.  Finally I crossed over to Sagittarius: the heart of our galaxy.  Here was a virtual Treasure trove of beautiful objects to place under the dual eyes of my instrument.  I started south and worked north.  M6 and M7 were spangles of brilliant stars that extended far beyond my eyepiece's field stop.  The open clusters were so bright that for the first time I noticed that they could be seen with the naked eye if one knew where to look for them.  Further north, the mysterious Lagoon Nebula (M8) swept into view with its swirls of bright and dark nebula so easy to trace.  Everyone in our little party gazed at this bright "cloud in the heavens".  However the true show stopper was the Trifid Nebula (M20).  This tefoil glow was divided by three faint dust lanes, also the close by reflection nebula was also easy to observe.  Everyone agreed that the only improvement would be to see it in color!  Finally there were also some nice open clusters somewhat further north which were well worth finding (M21 and M23).

Well I could go on and on, there were certainly more objects in this area worth observing, some of which we did find, however I must have been getting quite tired at this point as I don't remember them with any detail.  It was 2:30 in the morning and everyone began drifting away from their observing site to drive home or crash in the classroom building.  "An excellent night", I thought.  The warm breeze, the sounds of the insects, the dark infinite depth above called to me to stay awake, but as I get older I find my body has its limits, so I closed up my binos and shut the door of the new building sealing off the light from these bright, intense beacons implanted in the dark depths above.  However, in spite of being tired, I lay in my bunk for an hour or more playing these celestial scenes over and over in my mind before sleep finally came.

P.S.  Saturday night, when everyone else planned to meet, was rained out.  It seems that some of the very best things in life are at the whim of chance and not under the control of man!