Farm IV with Doug Biernacki September 9-10, 2022.

Trips to the farm by Doug Biernacki and I are usually reserved for DSO astronomy on dark sky nights around the New Moon. As those pristine skies are few and far between, we did not want to risk taking the camper out for the first time only to find it interfering with a rare astronomy opportunity.

Once the camper was ready for a trip, we decided that we would haul it to the farm at the first opportunity. This opportunity happened to be the night of the Harvest Moon. With sky conditions more suitable for planetary and lunar imaging, so that is what we did on this trip. .

The sky was clear from well before dark and until scattered high thin clouds rolled in at 0100, and we ended our observing sessionas at around 0130. Dew that we experienced was “normal dew” compared to past visits. The temperature stayed above 60 degrees, and it started to get chilly after prolonged exposure. Clouds had rolled in by sunrise when this image was taken.

An interesting change at the farm. What had been a soybean field adjacent to our campsite was planted in corn this year.

The first trip with the camper was a great success! We are hopeful that this shelter will allow us to extend the astronomy camping season well into the colder months.

© James R. Johnson, 2022.
jim@jrjohnson.et