Comments: I find myself procrastinating far too long in writing this report... Because I know when I finish I will have ended a chapter in my life...

And began a new one.

This will be the last report of 2001... and the frame saved to begin 2002. The old reports page will be archived.. My words sent to an "retirement" home where they belong... Part of my past. Do you know how hard it will be for me to push that erase key? And watch all that I have worked on for the last year dissolve away in a split second of electronic time? Ah, then... You know how I feel! I shall print off a copy to add to my observing books of other years... other times... And take faith that what I have stored in another server will not disappear...

And if it does? I will start again.

Began the evening by teaching some of my younger extended family members about the night sky... How rewarding it feels to say, "Here! This is the Plieades... And there! Let me show you the ecliptic plane.... the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter! And over here? Mars! See these stars? That's Orion's belt... and there? That's the M42... where stars are born. This "M"? That's Cassiopeia..." If I can give nothing else in life... perhaps just for one moment in time I gave "the next generation" something of myself. Maybe they will remember me for it...

Upon returning home, I set the scopes out to cool. The Moon had well risen, the sky was clear, and it was so beautiful just to see how the moonlight bathed the snow covered fields in blue light. Above it arched the black canvas of night... studded with the diamond hard brightness of winter stars. Time to end this year as I began it...

How beautiful the slow waltz of Saturn! Its' tiny moons triangulating it with perfection... the others keeping watch from outside the system of rings. I hold myself to my promise to watch for details I may have missed while deep in my eternal fascination with the moons.... and it is there. I had always assumed the crepe ring to be the shadow of the rings upon the surface of Saturn. The true shadow lies behind it, to one side of the planet, giving depth perception. Limb darkening enhances the effect... and again, I am deeply reminded of how it appears like a ball set within a vinyl record album. Each ring division sings a song of its' own.. Be it darker, or lighter... wider of thinner... transparent or impenentrable... Saturn's system of rings will hold you in a trance. And I am in no hurry to leave this place...

Near me, Ranger lies upon a blanket I have put down to keep him warm. Despite his age, and the single digit temperatures, he is my scopin' buddy... My old partner in a familiar dance. Around us, H cavorts about, oblivious to the cold, and deeply engaged in playing with.... of all things... a brick! ("and the wisemen don't know how it feels to be... thick as a brick." ;) Ah, but he learns quickly... and well. For each time I move the scope, or reach into the case for an eyepiece... he watched my every move. He has learned my body language perfectly, and knows when we are going out or in... if I'm moving to another part of the yard... or if I have no intention of leaving. H is an eager young partner... full of vitality. One who always looks a my case with a twinkle in his eye... as if to say "I could steal this from you..." ;)

On now to Jupiter... and the 4.5 comes first. Wow! First thought is for the galieans... three bent toward us, and one "behind" the planet. But the detail? Oh my gosh... When the 4.5 walks it out, I cannot wait to set the dob upon it. At 9mm it swells into the field of view, unleasing an orgy of striations. The dob will never provide clean, hard edge detail... but I don't mind. For you see, I am a galaxy hunter... but tonight Jupiter offers me satisfaction... and I will take it. From the ubiquitous soft, smooth, delicate shadings that exist both above and below its' famed belts... to those hard-edged, highly defined equatorial zones themselves. A tasty treat. And I am in the mood to indulge...

When walking back down off the power, it is my turn to enjoy the moons! Each one different, each one in their own place in space. How can anyone look upon the galieans and NOT see that they are dimensional?! And how quickly they move!! For in just the matter of time it took me to study Jupiter itself... perhaps an hour or so... the one has come from behind, to stand beside Jove! Eternally locked in the dance... I find them fascinating.

Time to go indoors for a bit. The hours have slid past me unawares... and the cold has found its' way through my many layers of clothing. (and the camera battery has gone quite dead... ;) Let's go recharge a bit... and when feeling returns to fingers and toes... Return.

And that magic hour approaches... Time to end one year and begin another.

It is custom in my part of the world to shoot a gun at that time... and who am I to break with tradition? (hehehhee... my choice? two semi-automatic rifles and my favorite old 12 guage shotgun... ;) Once the formalities have been dispensed with, guns returned to the cabinet where they belong, and spent shells taken away from H's reach, I am ready to "shoot" the Moon....

And what a magnificent player Selene is tonight! Mare Crisium will knock you down, and drag you away by the hair to claim you as his own. The shadows sit just right to highlight the "curve" of this outstanding feature.... Making it appear almost "blister like"... smooth and shiny, only broken by the tiny orafices of Peirce and Picard. Promentorium Agarum seems to stand out with a life of its' own, while Craters Lick and Shapely add interest to the walls of the boundary.

At the other end, Crater Rheita seems to stand out... it's central peak sitting high and proud above the soft texture that surrounds it. The runneled surface of the Southern Highlands still sits in wait... Its' day will come. So I return again to Crisium... and drink my fill.

The hour has grown quite late. Frost has long ago formed on the body of the Celestron...But still, I am not ready to leave. I return to Taurus to make my mark for Vesta... smiling to myself at how quickly it, too, has moved. This is a time honoured dance... and I know the sky well. It is a new year... and I seek the peace that Cassiopeia provides, the excitement of Peseus, and the strength of both Gemini and Auriga. These open clusters I view are old, old friends... I both know them well... and not at all. And I love them.

I have needs, just like anyone else... and right now I need to see Jupiter again. Earlier details so rocked my world, I want to look again! And as soon as I go to the eyepiece, my laughter brings H to my side... The Moons! Those crazy little, ever-loving moons... Not only has the one moved out from "behind" the planet, it has come towards us!! I will give Jupiter credit for one thing... It keeps me amused!

I begin slowly putting things away. I really don't want to leave this place, but my hands and feet have become quite numb. I saved the dob for last... and left in the 32mm. Why? Because I still need... And it will give me something...

The M81 and M82....

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