Happy First Day of Winter!

Or for our readers south of the equator, happy First Day of Summer!

Since the axis the Earth spins around is offset from our orbit around the sun, we get seasons.  This time the sun is directly overhead at approximately 23 degrees south latitude.  Here in the North, the sun is now at it's lowest point in the sky at noon.  Also at this point, our days will gradually start to get longer again until six months from now the process will reverse.

Currently my backyard observing site is sitting under a foot plus of snow.   I have a few more days to dig it out before new moon.  That is also assuming it actually clears up around here.  Early winter in the upper midwest is known for copious amounts of clouds.

The clouds have given me some time to get my scope set back up.  I took the larger reflector off the mount and took the tripod and my small refractor with on a fall camping trip to Colorado.  It looks like everything is still clean, with just the outside of the reflector tube being a bit dusty.  With sitting in front of out south facing patio door, I noticed that some parts on the scope have received a reverse tan.  There is a cover over the main opening to the scope, so nothing internally is getting cooked, but I noticed that the finish on the focuser for the reflector and the end of the finder scope have changed from flat black to an almost reddish bronze.  It is especially noticeable when you take the cover off the lens end of the finder scope.

Other than that, both scopes are just about ready for heading back out into action when there is a break in the weather.