Salish Sea

The Dark Season has been particularly gloomy lately. We have received lots of precipitation. There is no snow at sea level, and not much below 1,000 feet. Above 3,000 feet there is now lots, and all of the upper trails on Hollyburn Mountain, in West Vancouver are above that. For days we had been watching a bubble of high pressure moving in from the Pacific Ocean. It arrived Monday night, and we planned to ski on Tuesday. I’m glad we did. That one day of blue sky was spectacular on the hill. (The pictures are thumbnails).

As we begin to ski up the backcountry trail on Hollyburn Mountain, the high altitude old-growth trees are heavy with snow and ice. The temperature is just above freezing, and the trees drip on us as we ski beneath.

Since it is the middle of the week there are not many people on the path. Everyone seems in a good mood, and no one passes without a friendly greeting.

It looks as if this is a rough winter for the forest.

The heavy burden on the branches and the recent winds have brought down many branches and whole trees.

The hikers’ backcountry route meanders up and to the west of the groomed  commercial nordic area on Hollyburn Ridge. The top of the  nordic is known locally as The Water Boards. I’ve never known what that means. It is at that loop below us. Here the backcountry trail climbs an open swath in the forest and we have our first views of Vancouver and Georgia Strait.

Higher up, the air is colder, and the trees are no longer dripping. The summit of Hollyburn is the dome to the right.

When I look at these pictures I don’t have the sense that we are climbing.  It is not very steep, but it is uphill!

Up here it is possible to see the mountains to the east and some of the distant wilderness to the northeast.

I think the peak is Crown Mountain.

It seems that lots of snowshoers are heading up to the summit.

We decide to find some fresh snow, and solitude, in the forest to the left of the route.

That wide open swath didn’t feel like the backcountry.

Here in the forest, with the brilliant sun, the encased trees, and the dark blue sky, it is magic.

At one point I could look through the trees and glimpse the route to the summit. It was not far away and I could just hear laughter and squeals of delight. It sounded like a playground. Folks were enjoying the mountain.

Although the trees look as if they are plastered with snow, that is really ice-hard.

We arrive at a high dome. There is a couple of inches of wind driven powder over a hard base. The snow is sparkling in the sun and we have a fine view of Vancouver and the Salish Sea. The trees in this forest are spaced so that skiing among them, and finding the easier glades will be fun. To check the depth of snow, I plunged my avalanche probe straight down, and at 240 cm, there was no bottom. We took the skins off and skied down.

The star maps showing Comet Holmes position were popular last month. So, here are the maps updated for January 2008.

Sky maps for January 2008. Click thumbnails.

The map on the left shows the stars for the whole evening sky. The exact time when the moon and planets Saturn and Mars are in that position is 9 PM, January 23.

Comet Holmes will not move very far across the sky this month. Begin to locate it by finding Mirfak, in the constellation of Perseus. The second map show the section of Perseus with Mirfak and the track of Comet Holmes. The numbers beside the ticks on the track show the date and time the comet will be at that location. The comet is now faint and you will need clear dark skies and large binoculars or a telescope. Around Jan. 22 Holmes will pass in front of the star Algol. Unfortunately, there will be a brilliant Moon shining nearby.

The Quadrantid Meteors Shower will peak on January 4. Since there is a new crescent Moon, the sky will be dark, and it could be the best meteor shower of the year. Shower meteors seem to radiate from a single point in the sky, and normally the name of the shower uses the name of the radiant’s constellation. This one is named for a constellation that no longer exists called, Quadrans Muralis. The radiant is now in Boötes. Boötes is not up in the early evening, but you don’t need to see the radiant because the meteors will streak across all parts of the sky. The numbers of meteors could increase a little after midnight.

Technorati Tags: Comet Holmes, meteor shower, Sky map, star map

It was clear last night for the first time since we observed with the telescopes (a previous article on this blog). I went out with binoculars wondering if there would still be enough left of the comet to find it with such small optics (7×50). Perseus was high overhead, and the comet was only a few degrees from the zenith. I didn’t need the binoculars. It was an easy naked-eye object. The Milky Way flows through Perseus, and the comet looks as if a patch of it has broken off and drifted southward. No, it is not brilliant or dramatic, but it is amazing to see something that looks larger than the sun in the sky and is also over 1.7 times farther away than the Sun. When I look at it, and think about the size of the explosion that produced that comet, I understand that I am seeing one of the most startling astronomical events of my life. Star Maps of the sky for December, including the path of the comet, are here.

Technorati Tags: Comet Holmes

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’

“Is that the telescope that was used to view Comet Halley back in 1985-1986?” The telescope featured in the previous blog entry was built by Bill Peters and Jay Anderson, with some help from me, in 1985 to observe the famous comet. We all lived in Winnipeg then. We knew that we would be hauling it around to star parties so we could share the comet with the public. We wanted people to look at the simple plywood construction of a Dobsonian telescope and think, “I could make that!” So we left it unpainted and crude. Thousands of folks glimpsed Halley through those optics. [More in the next pane... ]

Technorati Tags: Comet Halley, dobsonian telescope

Continue reading ‘Comet-hunting telescope - recalling Comet Halley’

It is not enough for me to see Comet Holmes in the sky, I want to know where it is in the solar system, and where it is going. Since I have the software to show me this, by playing with it I learned lots about this very unusual comet. In the next pane I have some diagrams that show the current arrangements of the planets and an animation that illustrates how the Earth and the comet will move over the next few months. [if you cannot see the rest of this article, please click the title... ]

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Continue reading ‘Where in the solar system is Comet Holmes?’

It is a lovely clear night (at last), and I just walked out to see what was new with this astronomical celebrity. Expect that in the future Comet Holmes will be called The Great Comet of 2007. Everything you need to see the comet (except clear weather and a pair of binoculars) is in the next pane. [If you cannot see the rest of this article, please click the title... ]

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Continue reading ‘Yes, you can still see Comet Holmes’

Howe Sound still raging toward the end of a major blow during The Dark Season.

While living in Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg, I knew the traditional temperate zone’s 4 seasons. Each was delightful with its own sensations, experiences, and drama.

Now, as an Islander in the Salish Sea, life is very different. While I recognize the astronomical boundaries of the 4 seasons, I have decided that I really experience 3 seasons that only slightly pay homage to the transitions caused by the solstices and equinoxes. [If you cannot see the rest of this article, please click the title... ]

Technorati Tags: avalanche, Howe Sound, rain, rain forest, Salish Sea, snow, weather, winter

Continue reading ‘The Dark Season | The 1st Avalanche Report’

On October 23 Comet Holmes suddenly, and explosively, increased in brightness. Within a day it became almost a million times brighter. If the clouds would vanish, you could go out and see it tonight. Story and star maps in the next pane. [Click the title if you cannot see the rest of this article... ]

Technorati Tags: map, Comet Holmes

Continue reading ‘Observe Comet Holmes!’

John Locke’s famous assertion, “Brutes abstract not,” was challenged when Washoe, a young chimpanzee, learned American Sign Language.

In 1999 this matter was a constant preoccupation in my family. As part of graduating from grade nine at Island Pacific school here on Bowen Island, the students research and present a major academic work. My daughter chose, Language Between Humans and Apes. It was a year of learning for all of us. At one point she travelled to Ellensburg, Washington, where the elderly chimp was retired. We are sad to read of the death of this amazing animal.

Technorati Tags: Washoe