Lightning over Lake Michigan 4/5/2021

 

  An unexpected thunderstorm woke me up around 5 am today as it rolled in off of Lake Michigan.  The cloud-obscured flashes were nearly continuous before the storm crossed the shoreline.  As the storm got closer the frequency of the lightning diminished but the bolts themselves became visible.

      

   Below the map from Lightningmaps.org shows the strikes in my area during the storm.

Jupiter and Saturn Conjunction T minus One Day 12/20/2020

    Tomorrow, Jupiter and Saturn, the two largest planets in our solar system will reach a geometric configuration that will make them appear nearly aligned as seen from Earth.  The spectacular sight will have the two planets only 6 minutes of arc from each other.  That is a distance of roughly 1/5 of the Moons apparent diameter.  Both today and tomorrow were forecast to be 100% overcast.   But after a text from my friend Tim Bresnahan concerning the celestial event, I noticed a break in the clouds which had the possibility revealing the two gas giants.  It took me about 5 minutes to gather and set up camera, lens, lens plate and tripod.  The strip of clear sky exposed the planets for a total of 3 minutes during which I snapped off 34 photos at various exposures. 

 

   In the photo Jupiter being larger and closer appears brighter, while dimmer Saturn's rings give it an elongated shape.  Today the planets were seperated by 8 minutes of arc.

The Gales of November Come Early 11/2/2020

 

  Gales weren't exactly predicted, as the forecast was for winds of only 25-35 mph with occasional gusts over 40. Gales are technically winds in the 39-46 mph range.   What I've found out since moving to the lakefront, is that I can usually get winds about 25 mph higher than what is predicted.  Yesterday even exceeded that, when I had a sustained wind of 68.7 mph and a gust of 82.5 mph.   

  I went through the data on my weather station monitor and found between 3 AM and 8 PM, the wind reached 59.9 mph or higher 121 times. Eight of those times were between 70 and 77 mph and occurred between 7:19 AM and 1:45 PM.   But even those were topped by the category-1 hurricane force gust of 82.5 mph that happened at 11:09 AM.  

  I was a couple of hundred miles from home all day but monitored the conditions by computer and an app on my phone.  It would have been stressful to be here to hear the screaming wind as the roof shingles held on for dear life. I did lose a little patch of shingles but I didn't lose a single tree or even a large limb.

Lake Michigan Waterspout 9/28/2020

 

   Last Monday I spotted my first Lake Michigan waterspout.  I was kind of surprised to see the spout because they usually form when cool air passes over relatively warm water.  There was only a couple of degrees difference between the 63 F water and the 60 F air. 

  Later in the week waterspouts were forecasted to be likely on Lake Michigan but all I saw was an early  morning rainbow on Friday.

NEOWISE Closest Approach 7/23/2020

    Comet NEOWISE had its closest approach to the Sun back on July 3. Since then it has been heading back to the outer solar system but not before making a pass by Earth. On Thursday it reached it closest distance to Earth and I happened to have clear skies.

   

    Below is the center of the Milky Way Galaxy with the planet Jupiter just above the trees.

    The sunsets on Lake Michigan often end with a green flash caused by the atmosphere's layers acting like a prism to make the Sun's image slightly split into the separate spectral colors.  This effect causes blue and green, which have the shortest visible wavelengths, to be the last to disappear over the horizon.

NEOWISE in the Evening Sky 7/16/2020

   Comet NEOWISE has swung around to the evening sky and seems to be holding its brightness as it heads away from the Sun.  Last night I was able to get some photos from the yard.

   As I was taking the above shot from my deck I noticed that the ISS was heading toward the general direction that my camera was pointed.  I tilted the camera to vertical and let the satellite photobomb the comet. 

Comet NEOWISE C/2020F3

     Behold Comet NEOWISE. Not since 1997 when the great Comet Hale-Bopp appeared have I been able observe a comet without optical aid.  That 23 year gap exceeds the typical 10 year gap between great comets.   NEOWISE probably doesn't qualify as great but it does break the drought of prominent naked-eye comets which the northern hemisphere has been mired in.

   Saturday morning I was able to drive up to a location 370' above Lake Michigan to observe and photograph this stunning outer solar system interloper.

      Although this apparition of the comet thus far has favored the early morning hours, it is moving north and west and as of today it is best viewed in the northwest after sunset. Due to gravitational perturbations from the major planets, this visit to the inner solar system will increase the comet's period from 4500 years to 6800 years. You can check it out now or wait until the year 8820.