Cassiopeia

I started stargazing just under a year ago. On really cold nights I'm probably out there barely long enough for my eyes to have adjusted properly but tonight as I was expecting cloud (and it miraculously cleared about 10ish) so decided to make the most of it. Sitting on my cushion in the garden, I started considering the required observation I need to plan for my course. My mimnd started drifting and  I started to think about how far I've come over the last year. A serious fear of the infinite nature of 'what's out there' meant I'd shied away from the night sky. I have since found out there's an awful lot of nothing, so much so, that the matter there actually is would probably be classed as negligible by any statistician when compared to the size of the universe- a weird thought indeed, especially given the size and masses of the stars, some much more massive than our own star all containing such an awesome amount of energy. Anyhow, well, in the time I have been looking, the view of the stars has been changing, as it does, and now its almost coming round to where I started. 

I have a special soft spot for Cassie. It was the very first constellation I managed to spot from the book- a real thrill. I had hoped to try to spot something else new tonight- the evening seemed to have that exciting atmosphere about it. Sadly when the camera battery gave up the ghost I remembered that I'm a fair weather astronomer (my bum was even getting cold through the cushion). So nothing new tonight but good old faithful Cassiopeia above the house seemed the right thing to blip.