Stargazing Attempt

by Christopher Howard

published 2025-11-24

The skies were clear yesterday evening, but I didn't go out due to feeling tired and also not wanting to keep the kids awake. I planned, instead, to get up a few minutes early this morning and try to do some stargazing before going to work.

I was able to get out around 4am, but unfortunately most of the sky was covered in thin, wispy clouds, the kind that don't quite block out the stars, but nevertheless make stargazing a frustrating experience. I thought I saw a few flickers of aurora toward the SW, but nothing to feast on.

Some star groups that were more or less visible:

• Big Dipper
• Cassiopeia
• Gemini
• Auriga
• Perseus

I saw also what might have been Taurus, just above the tree line toward the SW, and another two stars toward the south which I think were Canis Minor.

My binoculars frosted over quickly, but before that I got a brief look at Jupiter to the south. I could see two moons far the left and right of it, and I think another moon just a little to the right of it.

The temperature was around 0 degrees F this morning, and I needed all my winter gear, though I've certainly been out in harsher weather. I'm feeling especially thankful for my heated gloves, though unfortunately one of the batteries was not charged.

Copyright

This work © 2025 by Christopher Howard is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International.