The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, respectively, in the sense that the length of time elapsed between sunrise and sunset on this day is a minimum for the year. Of course, daylight saving time means that the first Sunday in April has 23 hours and the last Sunday in October has 25 hours, but these human meddlings with the calendar and do not correspond to the actual number of daylight hours.
If you life in the southern hemisphere, this is your Summer Solstice, celebrating the longest day of the year.
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/WinterSolstice.html
All of the weather forecasts agree that Saturday evening will be cloudy. They disagree only on how early rain will begin. Not suitable conditions for observing the night sky so tomorrow’s public night is canceled.
Clear skies for the future,
R J ‘Tree’ Greenwood
Site Coordinator
Please read the C.M. Crockett Page for park details. Details will be updated for the Messier Marathon too!
Although the Clear Sky Chart shows only 20 to 40% cloud cover[1], the ClearOutside site predicts over 80% of the sky obscured by clouds.[2] WeatherUnderground says 39 to 70%[3] and AccuWeather says ~90% cloud cover.[4] Other paid weather-guessers predict partly or mostly cloudy and most give a five to fifteen percent chance of measurable precipitation. Not conditions suitable for star gazing.
Clear skies, dang it! Please?
Tree Greenwood
Crockett Park Site Coordinator
1 – http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/CrckttPrkVAkey.html
2 – https://clearoutside.com/forecast/38.60/-77.73?view=midday
3 – https://www.wunderground.com/hourly/us/va/midland/date/2019-04-06/22728
4 – https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/midland-va/22728/hourly-weather-forecast/2111280?hour=40
Please read the C.M. Crockett Page for park details.
Head over to the Astronomy Day page for more information.
The June Public Night at C. M. Crockett Park is canceled due to cloud cover. ClearSkyChart predicts only 40 to 80 percent of the sky obscured by clouds but all of the other weather forecasts predict 90% or more coverage. Most also forecast a significant chance of precipitation. Not a suitable evening for stargazing.
Hope for better conditions to come. Soon, please.
R J ‘Tree’ Greenwood
Site Coordinator
Please read the C.M. Crockett Page for park details.
The July Public Night at C. M. Crockett Park is canceled due to the threat of thunderstorms and cloud cover.
Hope for better conditions on 3 August. Soon, please.
R J ‘Tree’ Greenwood
Crockett Park Site Coordinator
Please read the C.M. Crockett Page for park details.