Comments on: Have you seen Orion lately?

By: mandarine

mandarine — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 06:45:26 +0000

Saskboy: welcome among my few non-female readers

By: Saskboy

Saskboy — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 02:48:44 +0000

The comet McNaught from a month ago was fantastic. I don’t really remember Hale-Bopp, but McNaught was super. Plus I have photos of it

By: mandarine

mandarine — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 15:30:51 +0000

When I visited new Zealand, I did not take enough time to have a good look at the night sky. Considering how I was constantly puzzled by how the sun moved in the sky, I am certain the austral firmament would have seemed a random invention to me.

By: healingmagichands

healingmagichands — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 23:20:57 +0000

I love Orion, but I also love the Pleides. I would have to say my favorite constellation is Ursa Major, mostly because he acts as a direction finder. After all, if you can find Ursa Major, you can find Polaris, and then you are oriented.

It was amazing when we travelled south of the equator, though. The Southern Cross is a most beautiful star cluster. Having grown up in the Northern Hemisphere and spent hours gazing at that sky, it was quite disorienting to suddenly be in the Southern Hemisphere, where all was new and different.

By: mandarine

mandarine — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 06:55:48 +0000

You forgot the nebula, which (with a telescope) looks like your breath plume got stuck on the winter-night firmament.

By: Cam

Cam — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 02:35:39 +0000

Orion is my favorite constellation. I think as a kid it was my favorite because it was so recognizable. Then when I was older, because there is something about looking at the starry sky when it is cold enough to see your breath. Now, I think it is because of symmetry & balance of the constellation. And because I recognize it, and see my breath, and …. what is there NOT to love about Orion?

By: mandarine

mandarine — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 21:33:09 +0000

Your comment just reminded me of a very old memory of stars and American desert southwest: driving back to civilization with my parents from the Grand Canyon, we got caught by the night in the middle of nowhere. We drove on and reached the Barstow, CA, Motel 6 at 11 PM or something like that. We were exhausted. The warm swimming pool was a wonderful experience, with palm trees around us and bright stars overhead — probably my only swimming + stargazing experience (until I setup a pool in my garden this summer).

By: healingmagichands

healingmagichands — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 18:28:28 +0000

I have many memories of backpacking trips in the desert southwest of the US, particularly Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. There were also many nights spent above timberline in Colorado and Wyoming. The stars you see in environments like that are hard to describe, there are so many of them and they are so beautiful.

By: mandarine

mandarine — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 18:24:43 +0000

“filled with stars so bright you could hold them in your hand”: I wish I’d written that. And I am jealous of your hot tub.

By: Lorelle

Lorelle — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 15:42:20 +0000

My childhood was filled with nights of stars so bright you could hold them in your hand. We were in Big Bend National Park in southern Texas during Hale-Bop and loved seeing it low against the horizon, a tiny flame in the crystal night.

Last night my husband and I lay in the hot tub of this lovely farm we are currently living on and saw our totally first clear sky in months. The sounds of the frogs surrounded us, with the occasional howl of the coyotes from the valley floor below us. I saw two huge shooting stars blaze across the top of the sky but my husband missed them. We lay there floating on our backs, waiting for just one more so he could see it. Finally, he groaned and said he was parboiled so we climbed out into the chill, steam rising from our super heated bodies.

Even without the third shooting star, moments like this are magical and will last in our minds and hearts, so when we read a post like yours, we are instantly transported back in time to the memory as if it was last night.

Thanks for the transportation!