I've been having problems with cerulean pigment for years, and so I did some experimenting, which included asking some of my AIs what they knew. I did solve the mystery in the end, but here are the chats I had about the topic beforehand. First up, ChatGPT:
What can I say, I've been lazy. I caught sight of the moon looking all orange just after sunset. It lasted about three days. It was because of smoke in the atmosphere from the wildfires in the US. It made the moon look orange even here in the UK. It reminds me of the Ophelia Sun we had back in 2017. I missed most of that, because of crappy work.
Whoa, I was sure I was going to go down in the ranks this time, because I haven't really been keeping up with the astro stuff these last couple of years.
Yay me.
I am going to get so much mileage out of this panel.
So after half a lifetime of talking about it, I actually got round to buying a proper telescope! In truth, it was the Chipmunk's astronerdiosity (I wonder where he got that from?) that persuaded me to finally go for it. For this reason I decided on a relatively small refractor, rather than the 200mm reflector I'd always planned on buying. I decided on an altazimuth mount, as 1. equatorial mounts are scary, and 2. my area is so built up, I'd be having to move the telescope around the garden (and house) in order to actually get/keep things in my field of view. Also, EQ mounts are scary.
I named her Eva.
I got mine from Harrison Telescopes (not sponsored), they appeared to have the best customer service, and competitive prices. I also purchased a moon filter, which was just a flimsy bit of plastic, but it does its job. Two eyepieces were included, a 25mm (36x) and a 10mm (91x).
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My first score has gone down, it seems, but my other two have gone up. 96% Astronerd! FGJ!
From this time forward, you'll hold the title:
Carry it proudly!
I will!
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YES! I am an astro boffin! Yeah! Now I'm off to go look for a supernova!
Quick sky notes. 04.00 Universal time, looking south.
A lovely view of Orion and Canis Major. Very bad seeing this morning, Sirius was flickering so badly it looked red. I tried to swing it like Dr Bates said, but it still flickered like anything. Oh well. I also saw two planets, which I guessed were Mars and Venus (and I was right, surprisingly!). Venus looked crescent-shaped through binoculars, but it's hard to tell for sure as my binoculars are meant for birdwatching, not skywatching. Aldebaran in Taurus, Canis Minor, Auriga and Gemini were also visible. Nice view of the Pleiades, but it looked like a small blue cloud with my crummy eyes. Argh! another reason I need to see a Bates teacher!
Zoomed in:
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Canis Major has always been a kind of special constellation for me, along with other favourites like Lyra, Cygnus, Orion and Boötes. It was amongst the first constellations I identified. Sirius (alpha [a] canis majoris) is the brightest star in the sky at magnitude -1.4, which makes is quite easy to identify, even in bright city skies. Canis Major is located east of Orion, and if you follow Orion's three belt stars down you will find Sirius.
Photo © by Akira Fujii
Traditinally, Sirius was pronounced with a long i, and was sometimes spelt "Syrius".
Historically, many cultures have attached special significance to Sirius. Sirius was worshipped as Sothis in the valley of the Nile long before Rome was founded. The Middle Kingdom of Egyptians based their calendar on the heliacal rising of Sirius, which occurred just before the annual flooding of the Nile and the summer solstice. In Greek mythology, Orion’s dog became Sirius. The Greeks also associated Sirius with the heat of summer: they called it Σείριος Seirios, often translated "the scorcher." The dog days of summer were also connected to Sirius.
And you'll understand the significance of this just as soon as I've finished part 2 of Lana's story. I don't know when that will be.