A day in the life of an astrophysicist, Dr. Becky; What? -- Maybe no dark energy?; What? -- Maybe the universe is not flat? Too large of Black Hole Binary? Snow on Saddleback

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well we have had cold and cloudy weather here in Orange County, but there is plenty of astronomical news appearing this week, including new indications that the universe is not flat and maybe there is not dark energy.  So, let's begin with "A day in the Life of an Oxford Astrophysicist; Dr. Becky"

Venus/Jupiter Conjunction; Letting the tripod settle down before opening the shutter; Sadly, Starship blows its top!

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well we are in a lull period for visual early morning observing Starlink satellites in Orange County until December 7, when the rotation of the Earth and the satellites orbit make visibility possible, so we can capture the Venus/Jupiter conjunction, clear up some Starlink imaging loose ends and report on planning (or not) a visit to Brownsville, TX, to watch the first liftoff of the SpaceX Starship.

Hooray; Starlink satellites arrived as predicted, but they are no longer a string of pearls!

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well here we are on Saturday morning waiting for our next chance to get some more images of the Starlink satellites before they disperse into their assigned positions.  This image from is what I hoped to get again, minus the trees.

Finding out about the NASA mission to visit asteroid Psyche 16; Clouded out and missed out on finding the Starlinks satellites, but another chance tomorrow

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well, tomorrow, Thursday morning, we planned to try again to get some images of the Starlinks satellites, while still in the string of pearls configuration.  In the meantime, it is time to check out another lecture in the Distinctive Voices series at the Beckman Center in Irvine.

Clouded out from observing Starlink string of pearls; New early morning times for Starlink; What are satellite TLE's?

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well, the early Wednesday morning observing session for the Starlink satellites string of pearls was clouded out and rained out.  But we have found some more early morning viewing times hopefully with clearer skies.