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Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Hi @outlander, @Former-Member and @utopia

Hi Utopia - I tagged you for this one because I recollect you are interested in Astronomy - and this is a little thread I will run because I love this stuff and will enjoy sharing it with others

I have a book I get for Christmas every year which tells me when anything interesting is happening - I can't see everything from my place - the Melbourne weather - pollution in the atmosphere and my low horizon is not good for starters - but I can tell you what you could see easily right now - weather being clear of course

The moon is past half and is visible in the afternoon sky and after dark it's near the bright planet Jupiter for a few days - so those two are easy to find

And following that the Moon will pass Antares which is a red star in the middle of the constellation Scorpio - and then Saturn which is the ringed planet and the furthest away of the planets we can see with the naked eye

Also - early in the evening - the the South West of Jupiter you can see Sirius or the Wolf-Star that follows the constellation Orion which is harder to see at this time of year - you may know The Saucepan or know the three bright stars in Orion's Belt

In the morning you can easily see Venus - the planet that is sometimes in the east and sometimes in the west - called the Morning Star or The Evening Star as it moves around the sun - it appears in our morning or evening sky - it's the brighest planet and sometimes it is visible after sunrise or before sunset and it very easy to see - actually - very hard to miss if it's there

Mercury is the smallest planet of the visible 5 and is closest to the sun and the hardest to find - and it's rising before sunrise and I have not seen it lately but I know it's there. You might be lucky to find it - but when then moon is in the last quarter it will be much easier to find

I am up for questions but need to take a break from the computer for a while - but unless I decide to go out - I will be back if anyone has any questions

I get very maternal about a thread when I open it - so I will be looking for this one

Dec

And if I can get suitable pics I will post them to show what I mean - I love all of this


264 replies

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In response to: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

I am glad the doctor changed your BP medication @Owlunar I have been on BP medication for over a year now and my BP has returned to normal with it. There were some times it was extremely high and some where it was low - the other meds I was on significanlt affected my BP but we seem to have found the right balance of my meds now. I have been starting to feel my depression has been getting worse over the last few weeks but it coiuld be that I have been physically unwell and my mood has gotten worse as a result of that. I feel a little better today - at least better than I have over the last week or so.

I know you love visiting Lakes Entrance. It is a beautiful place. I have only been there once but loved it a lot. Hopefully you can visit Hobart again soon to see your relatives - I know they mean a lot to you Dec.

Stress can have a bigger impact on out well-being than most people recognise and if you feel that is the cause of how you are feeling then you are probably completely correct. Sometimes the doctors don't actually listen to us so we need to repeat things several times - I am lucky to have a gp that does listen and she knows I know when I am not well and when I can get through it on my own - she does annoy me sometimes with how much she talks but overall she is a very good gp.

Toby is where he always is - right next to me and Cat is outside for now - it won't be long before it starts getting even colder and dark and then she will come in and lay by the heater until it is time to feed her. She is such a gorgeous little Cat but she starts whinging for her dinner around an hour before I feed her - on days when I am not coping that annoys me but other days I can handle it - today is a day I can handle it.

Take care my friend and hoping you are staying warm

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Hi @Zoe7

I'm glad your BP has settled with what you are taking but yes - your other medication has a part to play as well - oh what fun we have when we need medication

There is a whole class of pain medication I am seriously allergic too - people who don't know any better try and convince me it's a reaction and my GP forgets what my allergy was - it's anaphylaxis and that is hardly a reaction - ooohhh - dontcha just luv it when someone tries to convince you of the opposite to the truth - still they try

Your depression is getting worse - ah - do you find that happens with the onset of winter? I have always felt it - I remember feeling really miserable when I was a child - I would feel really cold and back then after WW2 fuel was rationed and now I have the heater on all day and all night to keep the temperature stable - back then we had an open fire at night but during the day the solid brick house was icy and it makes me wonder people how other people manage in an unheated environment - it must be horrible.

Stress - yes - it seems stress can't be treated - I have accepted the stress in my life and wonder what else can one do but meditate which I do - and keep my spinal pain under control but alas - my BP was high - and it is worse when it is too low as well - so I hope these tablets are going to work better - the GP I have now is pretty good - it took a while to break him in after my old GP retired a few years ago - at first he was nervous about writing Schedule 8 medication but after I had an MRI he was okay - he knows I am responsible about what I take and I take a lot less than is prescribed -

I haven't heard from my Tassie rellies - I wrote them a letter and card and mailed it express but I haven't heard anything and feel I should try and find out from my other rellies and maybe it's time I did - maybe seeing as I am so close I already know but I don't and maybe they are still seriously ill - I try not to let it get to me but it's not easy. My daughter is recoving though which is the best news - she has been back at work and I hope she continues to recover - personally I think her surgeon could have done better but she thinks it's okay and I don't argue

Companion Cat is sitting on the back of the couch behine me - she is old too and we understand each other but there are times when she behaves like a naughty kitten and I wonder about her - seriously.

My cleaning lady left the laundry door open and Companion Cat got into the rubbish after she had gone and messed up the laundry - and the door of the spare room was left open and it is tidy in there but cold - and I wondered what was going on in there and Companion Cat has got into a pile of papers for filing and messed that up - next - she is 14.5 and all her life I always have had a bucket over the drain in the bathroom because she wants to play in the dirty water - the bucket had been moved and there was dirty water all over the bath. I felt like squealing - no good yelling at the cat but felt like crying - at least having a naughty cat gives me something to talk about

And I just turned around to look at her and it is dark outside and I didn't go for a walk - perhaps better I didn't because today is the first day my feet have felt comfortable and let's not push things

Life does go on - I have my appetite back which is good -

Thinking of you Zoe - we live in different states - hate the cold - and have valuable company in pets - and I think we have a lot on common

Dec

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Yeah I think we have a lot in common too @Owlunar - we are both indepenednt women also

I hope your rellies in Hobart are doing better and you haven't heard from them because they are busy - fingers crossed anyway.

I do think my depression getting worse is more to do with me being unwell again - I do feel better within myself today than I have done for several weeks. Tomorrow will be a real test for me as I have a very early GP appointment - I will know by lunch time how I am going physically after being out early. The cooler morning air may affect me - but I will wait and see.

It is great news that your daughter is back at work and recovering - that must be a load off your mind

Your cat seems like a real character - but I can imagine having to clean up after her is annoying at times - bit hard to not love the little things they do that make them so loveable also though.

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

@Owlunar, I would love to upload my video for you , I will try my second mum but i think it will be tooo large, it is raining here today xx

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Friday night and this could be all about Melbourne's weather - it's blowing a gale and the wind is icy and it's pouring rain

Okay @Shaz51@Zoe7@utopia@outlander@Sophia1

We are having a Full Moon Party on 28th June - Zoe is organising it and I love these parties

I have tagged Sophia into this thread - not that much is happening right now except this storm - but I am hoping you can make it to the Full Moon Party - Zoe will fill us in on the details when it's nearer the date

These parties are consequence free - we can have mountains of the wrong kind of food - and the prettier the better - no one gets sick - people can come in and leave when they are ready and although it's on the date of the Full Moon it's doesn't matter if we can see it or not

I can provide it actually

This is me showing off

Dec

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Its blowing a gale here too @Owlunar most of the power around is either off or flickering

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

@Owlunar - @Bunniekins is helping me organise this party so anything could happen lol - I don't think @CheerBear will be around to help with the party this time so I will have to put in a lot of extra work to come up to her wonderful catering standards - hoping that she will be able to join in at some stage though.

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Hi @outlander

That sounds like a really bad storm - is it blowing up of the coast or from the north-west

I guess you are all prepared for the power to go off with emergency candles or torches and you have everything safe

The storm here was off Antarctica and icy - it has stopped raining and it's cold out - the storm has passed for now and the planets - Jupiter, Mars and Saturn and the star Antares are strung out across the sky like Christmas lights because the sky is so clear and clean and the clouds are white and fluffy and streaming out against the sky - really a cold but wonderful night

How are you Outlander and how are things with your Pop? Keep on keeping on - your path through life is kinda rough but ultimately worth it - but I hope you are able to get out and do classes or find some like-minded young people

Mostly people your age have not been through the battles you have and one reason you don't have close buddies is that you are far more mature than them - their interests probably don't interest them - I know you have trouble fitting in

I know it's not easy - still thinking of you

Dec

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Hi @Zoe7

Can I help in any way - I am not a community guide or anything with the ability to chat away from the site but if you need pics of really fancy food I could do that I think

I haven't done any on-line catering before now - in fact I have not done much entertaining ever

Whatever I can do Zoe - I would be happy to

Dec

In response to: Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

Re: Dec's Guide to the Night Sky for Amateur Astromomers - including Melbourne weather

None of us organising it have that ability either @Owlunar - which is no drama at all

I would be happy for you to do some catering - anything full moonish and spooky - did we mention it is a spooky costume party - just in case I hadn't I now have again. I will tag you into the Secret Party Planning thread when I get started and we can post things there to carry over to the party thread we create for the night. In the meantime you can search for whatever you thing would be good for the catering for the night - anything goes on party nights lol

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