Now the surviving Gelflings will be safe!
Open thread!
Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.
I’m going back to the respite thread.
Yes we did.
I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.
The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.
Nevertheless, she persisted.
No one could have predicted…
If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.
I personally stopped the public option…
Everybody saw this coming.
Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?
Just a few bad apples.
Impressively dumb. Congratulations.
We can agree to disagree, but i’m right.
… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact
It’s not even safe to go out and pick up 2 days worth of poop anymore.
It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.
Women: they get shit done
Four legs? good! two legs? we’re not so sure…
We survived Breitbartpocalypse!
Militantly superior in their own minds…
Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.
Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll
Usually wrong but never in doubt
Leto
So it’s still overcast here in eastern PA, like it’s been since last Wednesday, so no Gelflings will make it to safety here. Maybe next great conjunction!
Sherparick
Likewise here Central Virginia, but last night we saw them approaching!
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
Not here it isn’t, I’m headed out in about an hour to shoot it, with downtown LA as a foreground.
(I hope my calculations are correct.)
ETA: Just checked the local TV station’s webcams, it’s super clear air quality here too. Their LAX cam is pointed towards DTLA and you can see the buildings clearly and the San Gabriels.
Spanky
Southern Maryland report: Just came in a few minutes ago. Cumulus burned off at sunset, leaving just a trace of clouds. Nice view in binos, but I decided at the last minute to use a scope, so I grabbed an 80 mm short focus and a couple of eyepieces.
67 power still left a lot of sky around the planets, which I found more pleasing than cramming them into a high power field of view. Watched them until they got tangled up in some neighbor’s trees, then came in for dinner.
satby
It’s ☔ here. Oh well.
Alison Rose
Not dark here yet, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to see it from my windows, which would mean going outside, which………………………….nah.
Spanky
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Ganymede starts a transit across Jupiter’s face in about 20 minutes. I had the pleasure of seeing all 4 Galilean moons lined up, plus a field star not too far to the west aligned with Jupiter’s equator. HIP99314 to be precise.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Spanky: Too early here, we won’t be able to see Jupiter for another hour. Also, I really don’t have a telescope that’s good for planetary observation.
I posted a link to this in an earlier thread: The Great Conjunction.
Shot last night at Leo Carrillo State Beach.
TaMara (HFG)
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Can’t wait to see! Sounds like you’ll be able to get Saturn’s rings and 3-4 of Jupiter’s moons.
Splitting Image
It’s been cloudy here all evening, so I switched on a couple of livestreams.
Lowell observatory in Arizona will be starting their stream in a few minutes. If you’re on the east coast, the planets will have already set.
dmsilev
I’ll give it a shot once it gets dark, but unless I want to go out on the roof (which, to be fair, is flat), there might be too many trees blocking the south facing views.
TaMara (HFG)
Those who have cloudy skies, viewing should be good for 2 more days – they’ll be further apart, but not really noticeable to the naked eye (so says my favorite weather guy)
Rob
Enough clouds here in the DC suburbs that we didn’t look for it. Tomorrow! We’d have to go to a local park, or worse, find the top of a parking garage with a good view to the southwest.
TaMara (HFG)
@dmsilev: My neighbors cut down a big tree last fall so they could put a fence in their backyard. I was lamenting it until I realized it gave my tomato garden just the right amount of sun. And lo and behold, the three trees around the new opening are the perfect frame for this conjunction. ❤
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@dmsilev: I know some places that will have a good view, would require a drive though.
Spanky
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: A 400mm lens should get you the Galilean moons.
Baud
You make it sound so dirty.
dmsilev
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: I sadly have actual work to do for the next hour or so, so I’m kind of stuck here.
Rob
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: That’s a wonderful photo!
jeffreyw
We stepped out and gave it a gander. I looked at it with a small monocular, no moons but as nice a pair of planets as we’ve seen for a while.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Spanky: Thanks, I’ll probably stay more with landscapes. My higher zoom lens are cheap and not good. My best good lens is 200mm(300mm full frame equiv).
Ohio Mom
Completely cloudy here tonight. Tomorrow night is supposed to be a bit better, the prediction is partly cloudy. We live in hope.
rikyrah
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@dmsilev: They don’t set until a bit after 7pm, there may be time.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Rob: Thanks.
Van Buren
@Spanky: I have fam just across the river in Va. and they said it was crystal clear. Here on Long Island it was cloudy to the west.
I guess I will just have to wait till 2080.
randy khan
Cloudy here in Northern Virginia (rain coming tonight, apparently). Before I realized how cloudy it was, I briefly thought I saw something; then it moved and I realized it was an airplane. Oh, well.
sab
Cloudy here, so I DO NOT CARE that I missed a twice in a millenium event. And my west coast siblings with clear skies simply did not care period.
frosty
@Leto: Same here in South Central PA. Cloudy for the last few (and next few) days. Bummer.
SFBayAreaGal
I saw the almost conjunction last night. Beautiful clear skies.
Damn, right now the fog is starting to gather on the coastal hills. Hopefully the fog stays away so I can see the final conjunction.
Okay now I have the conjunction, conjunction what’s your function song playing in my head.
Kelly
Clouds here in the Cascade foothills so no astronomy tonight. Good clouds which are forecast to drop 3 to 5 inches of 22 degree snow tonight on the Santiam Pass. Yesterday’s Pineapple Express rained the base down from 40 to 30 inches but this will fix it. Tuesday’s forecast is a high of 27, clear sky, light wind. Sweet day for Nordic skiing. Just finished hot waxing the skis.
TaMara (HFG)
@SFBayAreaGal: Glad I’m not the only one.
Brachiator
The Great Conjunction live from the Lowell Observatory.
MazeDancer
Just like for the Geminids, all clouds.
Looking forward to once in a millennium photo coverage.
Adam L Silverman
I had a great naked eye view while finishing my workout in the driveway gym.
SiubhanDuinne
@rikyrah:
I’m sure I should know what this means, but I keep thinking that Kamala vomited (which I’m sure she didn’t, or it would be headline breaking news everywhere). Figured out that AKA refers to her sorority, but have no idea what “throw[ing] up AKA” signifies. Forgive my ignorance.
cain
it is raining cats and dogs out here – so no conjunction for me. I’ll play the conjunction function song though in honor.
debbie
Little chance of seeing it since the clouds aren’t likely to lift until March. //
SFBayAreaGal
Losing the battle. Fog is pouring in.
Ken
Sounds like your neighbors might be Druids.
Benw
Cloudy here, but I saw them unusually close together and close to the crescent moon the other night while I was walking the doggo, it was striking!
Adam L Silverman
@SiubhanDuinne: Apparently it is the AKA hand signal that members do to demonstrate that they’re members.
Adam L Silverman
@cain: Don’t step in any poodles!
trollhattan
Had my hopes up (and gear at the ready) because it was scattered high clouds before sunset, but stepping out now at 5:14 the fog as arrived on it’s little cat feet. Goddamn cat.
Smoke blocked the comet last summer so everything 2020 continues to be 2020-like.
SiubhanDuinne
@Adam L Silverman:
Thanks.
It’s called “throwing up”?
Ken
@Brachiator: Thank you! The live view doesn’t look impressive at first, until you realize that the planets are close enough to be in the same field of view and show discs.
Plus, the Galilean moons and Saturn’s rings.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne:
I hate this use of “throw up”! It always makes me do a double take.
Adam L Silverman
@SiubhanDuinne: Apparently.
SiubhanDuinne
@zhena gogolia:
“When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter;
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutter, and threw up.”
dmsilev
Managed to get a few shots with the 300 mm lens. Finding gaps to shoot through the trees was a bit irritating though.
Miss Bianca
I saw the Great Conjunction with my own eyes, yes I did! DARK SKIES FOR THE WIN!!
ETA: Clear here in the mountains, and unusually warm this evening. A little pair of binoculars and the conditions were perfect for star-gawking. Gelflings are saved!
SFBayAreaGal
Fog retreated. Beautiful night sky. I got to see Saturn and Jupiter. Woohoo.
MCA1
Those clips were from M. Night Shymalan’s “The Village,” right?
Never realized why the “monsters” from that film seemed so vaguely familiar from my childhood.
Uncle Cosmo
@Rob: Overcast & a whiff of drizzle in uptown Baltimore. Grrr….