Salish Sea

I remember that my family in Quebec never cared for March. Probably we attended too many poignant funerals during that month. Here on BC’s southwest coast, folks seem to think that because it is now spring, that the weather is warming and the ski season is over. My neighbours are working in their gardens. Actually, it is not warmer. It just seems that way. The days are longer and the sun shines much more than it did in February. The truth is, we have had lots of precipitation this month, and I don’t think the temperature at sea level has yet to rise to double digits. In the hills the snow has not started to melt. As a backcountry skier, I am delighted that the mountain snowpack is still increasing.

The flowers are some of the forest canopy now growing on the forecourt of the Vancouver Art Gallery in the centre of the City. Last Tuesday, after several days of rain, the sky partly cleared, and I headed for the local hills. As the ferry departed Snug Cove, I could see the new snow up in the hills. The images are thumbnails.

An hour after I boarded the ferry, I was skiing up the hikers’ route on Hollyburn Ridge. My ski poles showed there was about 8 inches of fresh snow. A bit of a crust 2″ down easily supported the skis. I was on the top of the ridge in another hour and 20 minutes. The second picture shows a telemark skier about to make his second turn off the Summit of Hollyburn. Up there it was dark, overcast, and snowing vigorously. The cloud and the precip is a local event caused by the sea air flowing up the mountain.

The descent is always faster than climbing, so within a few moments I was out from under the dense cloud and could glimpse Vancouver and the Lions Gate Bridge. To find fresh snow I was making my own tracks through the glades. I was alone in this beautiful forest. Often the sun was shining.

The tour ends under a major power line just above the road. There are still dark clouds overhead, but a few moments after I started to drive down, I was in the sun. A beautiful spring day.

Technorati Tags: Hollyburn, snowpack, Snug Cove, Telemark

The map on the left will work for 9 PM, mid-latitudes in the northern hemisphere, during the month of February. Click for full-size image. (It is actually set for the night of February 23 and the latitude of Bowen Island.) The map on the right shows the track of Comet Holmes. It begins on February 1. There are ticks for the position on Feb. 11, Feb. 21, and March 2. The track ends on March 5. If you have a telescope, and you would prefer some R.A. and Dec. data, there is an ephemeris posted here by the Institute of Astronomy - U. of Cambridge.

Technorati Tags: Comet Holmes, Sky map, star map

We awoke this morning to this. I have not heard a vehicle in hours. I went out only to clear the snow from the hummingbird feeder when I saw a frustrated hummer. The snow is still falling. It is hard to imagine that we are only a month away from blooming fruit trees.

Technorati Tags: hummingbird, snow

The Quadrantid Meteors Shower, tonight, could be the best shower of 2008. Under clear dark conditions you might see over 100 meteors per hour. We seem to have a heavy cloud layer over Bowen Island, but perhaps some readers will be lucky enough to have clear skies. The best time will be during the darkest-before-dawn tomorrow morning. For this shower, the time of maximum meteors is brief: less than 12 hours.

Technorati Tags: Quadrantid meteors

Each year one of our neighbours on Bowen Island hosts a caroling party. About 30 people of all ages arrive, and a little after 5:30 PM we set out to tour some of the local houses. Homemade song books were provided. This year many of is showed up with headlights to make it easy to read the words and music. Others carried lanterns. Some of the people we visit knew we would arrive, and after our two carols plus singing “We wish you a Merry Christmas,” instead of figgie pudding, we were served hot mulled wine and cookies. As we proceeded, folks would join us and the throng became larger.

The temperature was above freezing, and the Moon with Mars as a very nearby companion, emerged to light our way. Just about the time when folks were tired of walking, and feeling a bit cold, we returned to the host’s where there was a huge pot-luck dinner, and lots more music.

Technorati Tags: caroling

After days of precipitation, we have a lovely clear evening. The temperature is hovering just above freezing. There is a brilliant moon near Comet Holmes in the sky. Shortly after 7 PM PST I went out to see the comet. Nothing. So, I took the time to become dark-adapted. Now 7:31 PM, and I have seen the comet. I used some software to make my computer screen dimmed red, and kept my dark adaption. On the computer I checked the exact position of the comet. Outside again, I used a tree so I could stand it its shadow (moonlight). On a line from Mirfak to Kappa Perseus, the comet was a vague faint cloud in the bluish (not black) sky, and at right angles “above” that line. I could see HIP13965 and HIP13713 (6th mag stars). The comet is at the tip of a long isosceles triangle formed with those faint stars. Actually, it fills lots of the space between those 2 stars and Kappa. It helps that the binoculars are hand-held. The contrast between the comet and the sky is so low that the comet is best seen because it is ‘moving’ in the field as a result of my unsteady hands. The sky map (above) looks much better if you right-click and open it full-size.

Technorati Tags: Comet Holmes, star map

It is a 23-minute drive along the Upper Level Highway from downtown Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay in Howe Sound. Eagle Ridge is at the top of the hill just before Horseshoe Bay, where the road turns from west — facing the towers of Mt. Arrowsmith on Vancouver Island, to north and the peaks of the Tantalus Mountains. This is the entrance to Howe Sound and the gateway to Squamish and Whistler. Sometimes that turn reveals a different world. [click the title if you cannot see the rest of this article... ]

Technorati Tags: Bowen Island, Horseshoe Bay, Howe Sound, Pam Rocks, Vancouver, YVR

Continue reading ‘Howe Sound Weather is different from Vancouver’

Last Sunday, just to find a little snow, we went for a walk in Cypress Provincial Park, at an altitude over 3000 feet. We had a pleasant stroll along the Howe Sound Crest trail to the Bowen Island Lookout. Then we took the cabin trail (below the nordic ski area), in to Hollyburn lodge. It was closed awaiting more snow and some skiers.

For those of us who like snow… today it is here. Story in the next pane [click the title if you cannot see it...]

Technorati Tags: Cypress Bowl, hummingbird, snow, Snug Cove, Vancouver

Continue reading ‘Searching for Salish Sea Snow’

For folks who want to follow Comet Holmes, I have made maps to find it and show its progress during the month of December. You will find them in the next pane along with a mention of the Geminid Meteor Shower. [If you don't see the next pane, please click the title of this article... ]

Technorati Tags: Geminid, sky map, Comet Holmes, meteor shower

Continue reading ‘December Sky - Comet - Meteors’

Councillor Peter Frinton observing M42, the Orion Nebula,
with the 17.5″ Dobsonian reflecting telescope.
Peter and Fitch Cady did all of the heavy lifting to facilitate this observing session.

Oh, about Comet Holmes… It is now so big that even in the telescope’s lowest power eyepiece, it fills and extends beyond the entire field. The observer has to move the telescope to discover that the haze is really the comet, and you can see the edge of the comet and, beyond it, the real black sky. The explosive behavior of the comet makes this one of the most unusual observable events in astronomy during my lifetime

Technorati Tags: Comet Holmes, dobsonian, telescope