Jupiter and Saturn

With this post, I intend to show you my record of a sight in the night sky which has not been seen since the year 1226. (It did also happen in 1623, but during that occurrence, its apparent position was so close to the sun that it was impossible to see.)  I'm talking about the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. They will reach their closest point to one another (as seen from earth) on December 21, 2020.   

I don't know if you have been watching this over the last few months, but I have, and I have a few pictures. (very few) The sky unfortunately, did not cooperate with me to the degree I would have liked. But, at least I have something. I think it is a very interesting occurrence.  I didn't want you to miss it. 

After seeing my attempt here, you may decide to look up some professional photos or videos of the event. (there are some amazing ones.)  If you do, you will probably notice that the positions of Jupiter and Saturn are reversed from what you'll see in my pictures. It's all a matter of hemispheres.

(All photos used in this post are provided courtesy of the D. J. Foster  Astronomical Observatory, located practically on the slopes of Mt. Dizzy, in the Western Heights of Auckland, New Zealand.) 

This is the main observatory building, shown at dusk. 

                                                               Picture 1 

And  this is the 'night sky data collection site.'     picture 2

This first picture was taken on October 23, 2020.  The moon here appears directly above Saturn. Notice how much space there is between Jupiter and Saturn at this time. I measured about 8 moon widths between them.                  3

These next pictures were taken the night of December 15, 2020.  I'm going to zoom in on that area in the middle of the picture.  The moon isn't in this shot obviously, but I think you can imagine what it would look like based on the trees in the photo.  

                                                                           4

Look at how close together they have become. Jupiter is the brighter of the two of course. They are only about one moon-width apart.        5

                                                                                     6

                                                                                     7

These shots are from the night of December 17, 2020.  It was not a great night for pictures. While they don't show in these photos, there were very high clouds that made it hard to get focused pictures of the planets. They are closer yet.  Less than the width of the moon. 

                                                                      8

                                                                                     9

I've zoomed in a lot for this last picture, and camera movement caused the planets to elongate, but I wanted to show them to you a little more clearly.  

                                                                           10

The next three photos were taken the night of December 19, 2020.  

                                                                            11

                                                                                         12

Compare this picture, number 12, with picture number 7.  You will notice that although the palm leaves in 12 are larger than they are in 7, indicating a higher camera magnification, the planets are much closer together in 12 than they are in number 7.  

                                                                                 13

This shot is a little later the same night, at a lower zoom setting.  

This is the evening of the 20th.                          14

15

                                                                           16

Compare number 17 with number 12. I think they are at approximately the same magnification and you can see how much closer they are now. I just measured. In number 12, they appear 1.6 centimeters apart. In 17 they are about 1 centimeter apart.   

                                                                                       17

Here is the best shot of the moon I could get on 12/20/20. Lots of humidity makes for fuzziness.  Still, it's at least a record of the evening.  (I've been trying for the last few days to get a good moon picture, but up until tonight, the humidity was so high that the camera wouldn't focus at all.)                                     18

We had a heavy cloud cover all day Monday, 12/21/20. I had little hope of being able to see the conjunction. However, as evening progressed, look what happened...

                                                                         19

Not long afterwards, even though there was a layer of high, high clouds left, I got this surprising shot.  It's at 96 power.  

I say surprising for three reasons. At that high magnification, I usually get camera movement and that deforms the shape of the planets. But look at Jupiter; perfectly round. Saturn is a little out of round, but that's because of its rings I'll bet. And look at the color difference between them.  Finally, and most surprising to me, was that Saturn is now lower than Jupiter is.  

Look back at picture 17.  That is so cool.  It appears that it may have just passed its very closest point.                                                     20

A little later, I got this relatively clear photo. None of my shots tonight are as clear as I'd like. The high clouds just wouldn't permit it, but I am hugely thankful that I was able to see it at all. 

                                                                        21 

As the light faded and the planetary pair sunk toward the horizon, I took many more shots and from them, saved just these four.                        22

                                                                         23

                  

                                                                                     24

                                                                                      25

So that's it. We have seen the great conjunction of December 21, 2020.  I've had such a good time watching it happen over the last few months and I'm so glad that I have been able to share it with you.  

Oh, are you wondering maybe what the moon was doing while I was trying to get shots of planets elsewhere in the sky? I took just one shot of it. It'll show you how lucky I was to get the pictures I did get.  Take a look.  

I think that it's practically a miracle that the clouds rolled away just in time.

Yawn..., I just finished putting these last shots into the post at 11:20 p.m. That's very late for me. 

Merry Christmas to all and to all, a goodnight.     -djf

Update:

Just because I am in the habit of watching the skies at nightfall, I went out last night even though we had cloud cover. I watched where they should be, and I was treated to a few very fleeting glimpses...

Our forecast is for rain tonight. Guess the observatory is closed....              djf

  

Are wetas cannibals?

Jeanne just called me out to the deck. She had taken one large empty clay pot out of another and discovered a dead weta in the bottom of the other. Well, one dead weta and parts of what appears to be yet another weta.  (even more dead than the first one)  

It appears that the dead weta must have eaten the body portion of another weta. It left the legs. Then it died itself.  (serves it right)

I did a little research and discovered that wetas are definitely cannibalistic, especially when overcrowding occurs.

In the case of our dead (but physically complete) weta, it appears that it felt that two wetas in a large flower pot constituted overcrowding and went about correcting the problem.     

I don't have many pictures, but here they are. The weta appears to have dried up somewhat.    

These last two shots are about as good a closeup as I could get. What a creature.  Those are some wicked jaws. 

It's on my computer.

And here is the undercarriage of the other weta.  

Those weta drumsticks don't appeal to me either, although they do remind me a little of long- ago 'all-you-can-eat crab-leg nights' at the Island Resort and Casino in Wilson that Jeanne and I used to enjoy.                    -djf

Meet the blackbird family.

Let me tell you the story of the blackbird family.  

All these pictures were taken in our back yard between the 2nd and 7th of December, 2020.  

This is dad blackbird. He's got a lot on his mind. Always got to be watchful. He's a no-nonsense kind of bird. 

He can be a bit grumpy now and then, but he means well. He's got a family to protect. And there's been some serious trouble lately. 

There's mom blackbird. She is stylish...

and always tries to look her best. She is easy going and exerts a calming influence on her mate. 

And here's their pride and joy, Baby blackbird.  

Both parents work hard to feed Baby.  They've been doing a very good job.    

But Baby blackbird is getting older. He's starting to get more 'birdy' everyday.  

Baby has already mastered his first skill; standing on one foot. He's quite proud and hopes that his parents notice.  

"Look mom and dad. Look what I can do!"  

But, what's this?  Dad is hunting worms in the yard.  Baby watches closely...

"Wow, dad, that looks like fun. Can I try?"  

"Sure you can. Flying Is fun Baby. Do it just like this. Give it your best."  

Baby flies down. He does his best, but it's not easy.

 With dad's encouragement, he catches his first worm. 

Did you notice? Baby doesn't have tail feathers.  

"Look what I caught all by myself. Dad showed me how. They sure wiggle a lot. It was fun."

Baby keeps practicing and can soon catch and hold more than one worm at a time!  

We think that Baby's tail feathers were taken by a cat or maybe a magpie.  We found a bloody tail feather on our deck.  

Baby soon becomes an expert worm catcher.  

He is flying farther all the time, all the way to the far side of the yard, behind the fig tree. 

Is that silhouette of a bird on the fence really our friend Baby?

It sure is!  He's doing his special trick again.   

One day, another baby we haven't seen before showed up. We don't know if this is a sibling or just a little friend.  

The new baby sits on the fence and watches Baby down on the lawn hunting worms. 

New baby flies down.  

New baby's tail is intact. 

Baby catches a worm.  

And feeds it to the new baby.  

New baby swallows it happily. 

Siblings or friends, it doesn't matter.  

Time passes. Dad and mom are standing on their 'front porch.'  They're watching Baby in the yard.  

"Just look at that little guy go, will ya?  He may not be the fastest bird in the yard, but I'll bet you anything he's the smartest. Did you see that last one he got?  That was text book worming if ever I saw it!"  

"You taught him well, dear. I remember how fast you were when we first met.

You know, I think I'm going to kind of miss stuffing him with worms all day long. Our Baby is growing up and won't need us much longer...sigh."  

"Yeah, well, he'll be fine. His 'accident' won't hold him back for long. One of these days I'll take him with me and introduce him around the yards. Maybe we can even stop down at the Opanuku for a drink. Yeah, he'll be fine.    -djf

Christmas goodies

 In this post, I thought that I would acquaint you with the dessert goodies that Kiwis buy at Christmas. Well, a few of the goodies at least.  

This first one is the quintessential Kiwi treat. The Pavlova. You finish this by adding whipped cream and your choice of jam, and/or berries and/or fruit. This is a serious sugar rush just waiting to happen. I'll be the first to admit that I have a sweet tooth, but this one is a little too sweet, even for my tastes.  

You are probably already aware that 'pudding' here many times refers to a cake-like dessert. Look at all the varieties available. (next picture)  I think they're all pretty good. Well, the one's I've tried have been any way. They generally remind me of fruit cakes, which, despite all the jokes I've heard about them on TV, I like. 

BTW, since this post is a short one, I might as well fall back on a bit of reminiscing. A one-of-a-kind fruit cake story. But true.

  

Jeanne once made a fruit cake just before Christmas. She used candy oranges, lemons and limes in it along with the usual stuff. For some reason, she felt that the finished product might be substandard and hated to serve it.  She poured a Liberal dose of brandy over it, wrapped it in a tea towel and then waxed paper, and stuck it at the back of our refrigerator's crisper. 

She forgot about it. I didn't even know it was there, and for seven and a half months the cake passed out of all knowledge. Until, when chance came, it ensnared another bearer. *

One day, sometime in July, I was rooting around in the veggies, spotted an unknown entity at the very back, just lying there, and picked it up. 

"What's this thing," I asked Jeanne. 

"Oh my goodness, it's a fruit cake I made at Christmas and forgot about," said she.  

She then told me the story of its creation and of its doubtful value.   

I figured 'what the heck, how bad can it be'? And cut into it.  

It was magnificent!  It was the best fruit cake I had ever tasted or would ever taste. (I'm 69 now and I haven't yet discovered its equal) It was the fruit cake that defined what every fruit cake should be. Maybe fruit cakes in Heaven will taste like this one I thought, but I doubted that any other earthly cake would or could. 

I think that it was the brandy that did it. I'm sure all trace of alcohol had long since dissipated from the cake, but before it left, it must have performed some sort of magic on the molecular structure of flour, sugar, fruits and whatnot. Talk about the whole being greater than the sum of its parts! It had metamorphosed from a caterpillar into a world-class butterfly. 

It was so good I hated to swallow each bite. With every taste my brain would explode with pleasure endorphins. It was a sad day when the last of the cake was consumed. I suffered withdrawal symptoms for nearly a week.

But the memories last.  

*I hope you recognized a few phrases from the Lord of the Rings opening monologue. I couldn't resist using it.  

Have I whetted your appetites at all?  Christmas is right around the corner. Better get out there and buy whatever it is that is your 'must have' Christmas treat.  

Merry Christmas to you all, and remember the Reason for the season.             -djf

More about Cedrela sinensis, the Chinese toon

 You may remember this first picture from a post I did not long ago. It's our peanut butter and garlic flavored, cotton candy pink friend from China by way of Australia.  Here is the link in case you missed that post or if you want to review it.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/398866872025297364/3764516715245758959

This will be a very short post. It's really nothing more than an update to the first one. I just wanted to show you the changes the tree undergoes as spring turns to summer here.  

I think that you can see that this is the very same tree as in the photo above. It has grown considerably and all its leaves have turned green. This photo was taken just a couple of days ago. It's only in springtime that the leaves are bright pink.  

"But, but, but....what about the taste of the leaves", you ask?

Well, you'll be glad to know that they still taste the same. Maybe not quite as strongly as they did when they were pink, but the flavor and scent is still there. 

I intend to test the leaves as we progress through summer and see how long the taste/smell lasts. I think I will find that the flavor will continue to fade with time. 

I have one more before and after comparison for you below.  You'll notice that the lower picture still shows hints of pink in the leaves.  That shot was taken a couple of weeks ago so the change hadn't been completed yet.  

This is a shot of some leaves I picked. Completely green, but look at the bright red stems that remind us of what the leaves once looked like.  

That's it for today. I'll stay in touch though. Not only will I keep you posted on the leaf flavor issue of these toons as the summer progresses, I'll watch them in the fall and report what they get up to then. You don't want to miss that. Stay tuned....           -djf