Verna, who has a lot of Irish Heritage, put on the colors and décor for St. Patrick’s Day a few days early for our weekly trip to get groceries. There was a little wind that tried to blow her hat away, but she managed to keep that from happening.
She sure looked cute during our weekly excursion for vittles.
There is also a little House Finch perched atop the cactus. Taken with my Galaxy S23 this morning. Click on the image to enlarge.
Our RV Technician came out today to replace the Chassis Batteries (upper image above) in the motorhome. He also serviced the House Batteries (lower image). Everything is working like a champ again. Click on the image to enlarge.
One of our activities is, and has been for quite a while (since living in California) watching the International Space Station fly over when visible. Last Sunday night’s pass was quite a treat in that it had nearly everything going for it: cloudless skies, convenient timing and an almost direct overhead pass.
In the image above, you can see the ground track of the ISS as it passed over the Southwestern US. The maximum predicted elevation for this particular pass was 88° which barely missed our exact location to the southeast, but watching the fly-over, one could not perceive any difference from a direct overhead pass. Image credit Heavens Above.
Another attribute that is not always the case during a pass is that the ISS remained sunlit during the entire pass. We live in a slight hollow below surrounding terrain and saw the ISS rise in the southwest above some local hills and it few over us and set in the northeast behind some other terrain. We always enjoy watching the ISS and other satellites flying over, but this one was unusually spectacular.
In anticipation of the Annular Solar Eclipse on October 14, 2023, I got out the Canon SL1 camera and associated accessories to photograph the solar disk. I used the Canon EF 100-400mm along with a Thousand Oaks Optical threaded SolarLite® filter to get the (clickable) image above. I had to experiment with the camera settings to get the image and further had to adjust it using a photo processing app.
The setup resolved the solar disk and a couple or three sunspots currently visible; the two larger sunspot visible are 3297 and below that 3294. Those numbers are according to SpaceWeather.com.
As I mentioned above, I had to experiment with the camera settings a bit. Using the camera’s Programmed (P) setting, the images were overexposed. I switched to the shutter speed priority setting and tried several exposure times from 1/1000 second, 1/2000 second, and 1/4000 second. The latter, which is the fastest shutter speed on the camera, captured enough of the details needed to produce the image seen above and will certainly be good enough for the annular eclipse. For the total eclipse in April of 2024, it will be necessary to remove the attenuating filter during totality in order to capture the details of the solar limb and the spectacular appearance of the solar corona.
Waterford Lismore Crystal Irish Coffee Mugs
Verna traditionally gets some Waterford Crystal on Valentine’s Day. She chose Irish coffee mugs this year. And yes, we have already enjoyed Irish coffee served in these mugs.
Russel Stover Sugar-Free Chocolates
Sugar-free confections are the order of the day when it comes to Valentine’s Day treats. These candies are just the ticket for a sweet treat.
Verna’s Favorite Stargazer Lilies
Verna’s favorite flowers, Stargazer Lilies are featured in our flower vase on this Valentine’s Day. Click on any image to enlarge.
