Cariboo Skies Becomes Mexican Skies

It all started with Hawaiian Skies, back in 1985, in the days before the Internet. (Yes Virginia, there really was a time when there was no Internet, and it was not very long ago!) The medium for Hawaiian Skies became a weekly radio program on KAOI FM, Maui. A decade later, back in the Great White North, in the wide open spaces of the Cariboo, far from the things of Man, Hawaiian Skies became Cariboo Skies, and found a home on the world wide web.

Up on the Cariboo plateau, with 3,000 feet less atmosphere to blur things up, the winter skies are quite a sight. But they are also very cold, playing havoc with telescope mirrors, and subjecting stargazers to a serious case of the shivers, not to mention the joys of frostbite. Being addicted, I braved the adverse elements, but trying to inspire others to do so was not easy, and that, after all, was the whole idea. The warmer summer nights only lasted two months, and during that time the Sun never went far enough below the horizon for the sky to get very dark.

The Cariboo is one of the most magical places on the planet, and I left a big piece of my heart there, but the rest of me went back to the tropics, where star gazing is comfortable and warm, and fun for the whole family, all night long. Hence Mexican Skies. Down here people are quite used to spending a lot of time out under the stars in the relative cool of the evening, but surprisingly very few have any idea what they are looking at. Hopefully, that's where Mexican Skies will come in.

I hope followers of Cariboo Skies will stay with this new incarnation. Except for some of the more southerly stars, most things discussed on this site will still be visible in the northern skies, including of course, the Moon and all the planets. This week's sky map shows the view of Leo and the planet Saturn (just past opposition) from the new Mexican Skies Observatory in Santa Elena, Oaxaca, Mexico. I have also included some observatory photos of the recent lunar eclipse. Welcome to Mexican Skies. Enjoy.

Halfway to totality...



Almost totality...



Totality, with Saturn below, and Regulus (just visible) above...

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