Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

In after Baud. Damn.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

The gop couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

“woke” is the new caravan.

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

T R E 4 5 O N

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

The willow is too close to the house.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about it’s history.”

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / Late Night Respite Open Thread

Late Night Respite Open Thread

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NYMag’s Vulture sublog:

… “You go to it. You have an airplane,” Tyson replied when The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah points out that not every eclipse is conveniently visible to every person. “I’m just saying, if you care about them. I’ve got people who’ve seen ten eclipses.” Noah joked back, “You said it like you and the eclipse are in a relationship. ‘Oh, well if you cared about the eclipse, you would go to the eclipse.’”

Interestingly, Tyson went on to discuss his new book Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, in which he notes that dedicating one’s time to contemplating the cosmic perspective is often a privilege not afforded to people preoccupied by the immediate pressures of survival — people who, ostensibly, might not be able to easily travel to see an eclipse and would be justifiably hyped to see a cosmic event from the convenience of their own hometowns…

Reader Interactions

104Comments

  1. 1.

    Viva BrisVegas

    Or you wait for the next eclipse.

    2024, just towards the end of President Warren’s first term.

  2. 2.

    Major Major Major Major

    I finished drawing my birdie.

    I’m off to New York in the morning, still connecting via DFW, which… seems to be fine, I guess the hurricane isn’t enough to put the kibosh on travel and commerce entirely. Then again, what is?

    Looking forward to the meet-up this weekend, even if it is just me and NotMax.

  4. 4.

    Jerzy Russian

    Hmm, link to nowhere.

    You don’t have to travel very far to look up at night. The sky is still full of wonders and there are cool things to see, like Earthshine on the day-old crescent moon. You just have to be paying attention.

  5. 5.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    Didn’t there used to be a list of BJ front pagers? I just looked for it but couldn’t find it. Is Rhandino (spelling?) Still here? Does Soonergrunt still have the keys? It seems to mostly be AL, Adam, Tom, mistermix, DougJ, JC (of course), Cheryl… I see Kay in the comments but not often helming posts.

  7. 7.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    I get what Tyson is saying, I’ve spent a good number of hours this summer driving to places I can see and photograph the Milky Way. There’s a WOW factor when you look up in the sky and see it AND a double WOW factor when you get home and start to process the shots. The camera can see much much more that the eye can.

  8. 8.

    Bruce K

    Apologies in advance for going off topic, but I’m stuck wit how to respond to a denial of systemic racism in the US: “so if the US is as full of racists and bigots as you say, how could a black man be president for two terms?”

  11. 11.

    Jerzy Russian

    I met Dr. Tyson sometime in the late 1990s, I think. He was a fun guy to talk to. I also came within about 15 feet of Carl Sagan at a meeting in 1993, close enough to read his name tag. He had just finished talking about organic molecules in space, among other things.

  13. 13.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Bruce K: By being the finest politician of his generation, running as the out-party during a world-historic economic collapse, and then winning reelection by turning things around plus the power of incumbency. Does that use too many more-than-one-syllable words for this person you’re talking to?

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: That’s far! And I don’t have a car!

  14. 14.

    Mike J

    @Jerzy Russian:

    The sky is still full of wonders and there are cool things to see

    The wildfire smoke was back over Seattle today. Had an end of season party on a friend’s dock (right next to my club’s dock) and the half moon shining over Lake Washington was red. Beautiful night, just a pity the wind waited until the sun went down to pick up.

  15. 15.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @Bruce K:

    Wish I had an answer… we’ve had one Catholic president, no Jewish president, Mormon, Buddhist, Hindu, atheist…

    No female president, no one but Barack who was non-white (who was himself of mixed race).

    One mixed race president is hardly a sign of no racism.

  18. 18.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Mike J: I was able to see a sunspot without any telescope (and safely) during a wildlife here in San Diego about 10 or so years ago. Every once in a while a sunspot gets large enough to see without magnification, but as we all have learned from the recent eclipse, looking at the sun poses some potential problems under normal circumstances. The smoke was so thick that looking at the sun was not a problem.

  23. 23.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Major Major Major Major: Not to be too snarky, but many famous astronomers came out of England and Northern Europe where the weather conditions are not optimal. Of course they did not have a lot of light pollution back then. Also, having no TV, radio, Facebook, Twitter, Balloon Juice, etc. resulted in having more free time…

    As Bill is saying, it is not impossible to conceive of (in your case) heading out past the hills east of Oakland for clearer and darker skies.

  24. 24.

    AxelFoley

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    I get what Tyson is saying, I’ve spent a good number of hours this summer driving to places I can see and photograph the Milky Way. There’s a WOW factor when you look up in the sky and see it AND a double WOW factor when you get home and start to process the shots. The camera can see much much more that the eye can.

    Man, I want to go to a remote area so I can see the Milky Way. One day, I will.

  29. 29.

    Brachiator

    Sometimes I envy the Brits just a bit. They have rejected Fox News. From a recent story.

    Rupert Murdoch and his sons are pulling Fox News off the air in Britain.

    The network’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, has announced that the controversial news channel will no longer be broadcast in the U.K. after failing to attract an audience. The network has also become a lightning rod for critics seeking to spoil the Murdochs’ planned $15 billion takeover of Sky, the top pay TV provider in the U.K.
    “Fox News is focused on the U.S. market and designed for a U.S. audience and, accordingly, it averages only a few thousand viewers across the day in the U.K.,” 21st Century Fox said in a statement.

    Now if they could only block his takeover of Sky….

  31. 31.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I think it’s supposed to mean zero miles though.

    Not necessarily. It could mean your yard, or it could be a relatively easy bike/car/bus ride.

    In any event, there are still things to see and notice from San Francisco. For example, watch the Sun setting, and note where on the horizon it is (maybe even snap a picture). As you do this over the weeks and months (looking from the same spot), you will notice the position of the sunset varies substantially. Another fun exercise (at least to me), try to spot the Moon during daylight hours. You will be surprised how many days you can see the Moon when the Sun is out. You just have to look for it.

  32. 32.

    Mike J

    @Bruce K:

    “so if the US is as full of racists and bigots as you say, how could a black man be president for two terms?”

    People forget how godawful the president before Obama was. Bush had gotten the US into two endless wars and completely crashed the economy. The Democrat was going to win in 2008. As a rule, the Democratic primary electorate tends to be a bit less racist (and a lot blacker) than the general election electorate.

  33. 33.

    Jerzy Russian

    @AxelFoley:

    Man, I want to go to a remote area so I can see the Milky Way. One day, I will.

    The best sky I have ever seen (this includes several major observatories) is when the car broke down outside Bryce Canyon National Park on Thanksgiving night several years ago. I had some time outside the car, and it was awesome (and freezing cold).

  38. 38.

    Jerzy Russian

    @West of the Rockies (been a while):

    My daughter is going to SF this weekend and wants to visit Japantown. Would you by any chance know of a manga/anime shop you might recommend?

    There is a “cat cafe” relatively near the large mall that is by the Powell Street BART station. You pay an admission fee, and you can go to a cafe for drinks, scones, cakes, etc. There also is a room where about a dozen cats live, and you can spend 45 minutes or so in that room to play with the cats.

  39. 39.

    Tom Levenson

    @Major Major Major Major: A very few miles out of town gets you great skies…at least after Fogust. Stinson Beach — or better, the top of Mt Tam (or Diablo) — and you’ve got the dome of the heavens there for your awe and pleasure.

  41. 41.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Major Major Major Major:

    KitTea, or is there another one now? Me and Mnem and ruemara went there last November.

    Yes, that is the one. I have been there twice with my daughter, who can’t get enough of cats.

  42. 42.

    Tom Levenson

    @Jerzy Russian: Not to brag or nuthin, but I worked with both Tyson and Sagan at different times. Sagan I really worked for –as a fact checker in the early 80s, and then, more independently, as a reporter interviewing him in the mid eighties. Tyson and I collaborated on a couple of documentary projects in the 90s/early 2000s. Both great people to encounter.

  43. 43.

    Tom Levenson

    @Major Major Major Major: ;-). I’m actually in Berkeley as I write this (my natal place) — and am annoyed at the fog, having just come down from Lassen Volcanic Nat’l Park, with simply stunning skies (and a very good pair of binoculars).

  47. 47.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @TriassicSands: Actually, the Milky Way will be gone in a few weeks; sort of. The galactic center will move to the more southern skies and will return for us in the northern hemisphere in April(or thereabouts). Of course there is the collision with Andromeda…

  50. 50.

    AxelFoley

    @Jerzy Russian:

    The best sky I have ever seen (this includes several major observatories) is when the car broke down outside Bryce Canyon National Park on Thanksgiving night several years ago. I had some time outside the car, and it was awesome (and freezing cold).

    Thanks, I’ll keep that location in mind.

  51. 51.

    Jerzy Russian

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Of course there is the collision with Andromeda

    The skies at that time will look awesome, as the Sun will be turning into a red giant at about the same time…

  52. 52.

    AxelFoley

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    @AxelFoley: You might not have to travel as far as you think. Both places I’ve shot at are the dark green color on the map. It looks like there are similarly dark places in southern VA.

    Hmm…next time I’m traveling the more rural areas of my state at night, I’ll be on the lookout.

  53. 53.

    Tom Levenson

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Point Reyes is da bomb. A fabulous drive from the Bay Area, gorgeous, and ultimately really spooky landscape, and great skies, fog permitting. Recommended to every SF visitor with a day to spare.

    (It’s also where my Boy Scout troop used to stage its 20 milers, way back in the day. Yup. Believe it or not, I was a scout. Long ago and far away…)

  55. 55.

    Brachiator

    Upcoming celestial events. From NatGeo

    VENUS JOINS JUPITER, NOVEMBER 13

    Two of the brightest celestial objects in our skies will have a superclose encounter at dawn on November 13. Neighboring planets Venus and Jupiter will have a spectacularly close conjunction very low in the eastern sky. The two worlds will appear to be separated by only 18 arc-minutes, or about equal to the apparent width of a half-lit moon. Since this conjunction event will take place so low to the horizon, the planets will be battling the glare of the morning twilight, and binoculars will make viewing more enjoyable.

    GEMINID METEORS, DECEMBER 13
    The annual Geminid meteor shower will reach its peak activity this night for viewers in the Americas. The Geminids are known to be quite prolific, with rates as high as 60 to 120 shooting stars an hour at peak times. This year’s event will be special because sky-watchers will only have to contend with the waning crescent moon until about local midnight. Once the moon sets, the best viewing will be in the predawn hours of December 14—exactly when the shower is predicted to reach its peak performance.

  63. 63.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Tom Levenson: The only thing we did in the Sierra was the Silver Knapsack hike, 50 miles in the southern Sierra. We did one practice hike in the mountains above Bishop for it as well. We did most of our hiking down here in the Southland.

  66. 66.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Tom Levenson:

    Bryce….

    For when acid no longer packs sufficient thrill.

    I am not aware of all internet traditions, and I refuse to google that, it being just before bedtime and all. So I will just back away slowly.

  67. 67.

    AxelFoley

    @TriassicSands:

    Hurry, it might be gone.

    Where do you live?

    SE Virginia

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    @TriassicSands: Actually, the Milky Way will be gone in a few weeks; sort of. The galactic center will move to the more southern skies and will return for us in the northern hemisphere in April(or thereabouts). Of course there is the collision with Andromeda……

    Well, I guess I won’t be seeing it until then. LOL

    I might be able to sneak a peek at it before the Andromeda collision. ;)

  69. 69.

    eclare

    @AxelFoley: Big Bend National Park has amazing dark sky, but it takes a while to get to. Then again, that means it is the least visited national park.

  70. 70.

    AxelFoley

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    @AxelFoley: Spring to late Summer is the time when it will be the best. If you want to photograph it, I’m happy to share the little knowledge I have about the subject.

    Cool, thanks. I may be visiting one of my friends who lives in Phoenix next year. I’ll definitely keep this in mind.

  73. 73.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Tom Levenson: Lassen is on my list, but it is about a 1,5 day drive from here at maximum warp. Have you been to Crater Lake yet? You won’t be sorry if you can make it there.

  74. 74.

    TriassicSands

    @AxelFoley:

    You closest really dark skies might be north to northern Maine and into Canada.

    Bryce is nice, but there is some light pollution from Ruby’s Inn. However, much of southern Utah is excellent dark sky territory. If you have a high clearance vehicle and it isn’t raining, then take the eastern entrance to the Cathedral Valley Loop in Capitol Reef NP. (You don’t have to ford the Fremont River if you return the way you came.) East of that is an overlook called Muley Point, easy to find on the Internet. No special vehicle requirements — and you’ll be in what is, as of today, still Bear’s Ears NM. To the south of Muley Point you’re looking into Monument Valley. Looking up — heaven!

    But, as I said, most of southern Utah is great. Also much of Nevada. Look at one of the satellite photos of the US at night. Both Utah and Nevada have huge areas of pure black. Look up Racetrack Playa in Wikipedia. There is a shot of the Milky Way that’s quite good. If the conditions are right, you might even see two rocks in a foot race, so to speak.

    Needless to say, the West is generally far better than the East for dark skies.

  76. 76.

    Jerzy Russian

    The Large and Snall Magellanic Clouds, the two main satellite galaxies to the Milky Way, are nice to see, but you have to go south of the equator. They look parts of the Miljy Way that just broke off.

  80. 80.

    TriassicSands

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Try Death Valley for amazing night skies. You can get up over 11,000 feet on Telescope Peak or go out to Racetrack Playa. But maybe you’ve been there already.

  81. 81.

    Tom Levenson

    @Jerzy Russian: Best sky I ever saw: at Caltech’s CBO, 16,700 ft. Up in the Andes above San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. No moon, exactly zero light pollution, and bottled oxygen to keep my eyes in focus. Makes the best northern hemisphere sky look pale and sad by comparison.

  82. 82.

    Tom Levenson

    @eclare: Not saying you’re wrong, just surprised. Lessen is certainly the least visited of CA’s national parks.

  86. 86.

    Marcopolo

    @eclare: Did some winter hiking in 1989 in the desert portion of Big Bend with a friend. I recall we thought it would be a little warmer than it actually turned out. Oh, well. Packing in all of our water (a gallon per day for 3 1/2 days was also a pain in the ass. However, I have never witnessed a better night sky for viewing the Milky Way as well as a meteor shower (maybe the geminids). We were seeing something like 30-40 meteorites an hour. And yes, it was a two full day drive to get there–a day to reach Texas and then a day to get to the park. Was in southern IL at a defunct Girl Scout camp to see the eclipse a week ago. A much more convenient destination from StL.

  87. 87.

    Mel

    Medicine Wheel (Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming) – a beautiful hike, and breathtaking night skies.

    I can’t even explain the Medicine Wheel itself. Never, ever felt the sense of wonder and awe in any place of worship or in any modern architectural landmark that I felt there,and at Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands. You feel so small and inconsequential, but at the same time there’s a sense of your tiny thread being a necessary part of an immense and endless tapestry.

  88. 88.

    Bruce K

    Thanks for the suggestions. I suspect there may be a cultural divide at work as well – there are people in the discussion from all over America and all over the world, and … well, one of the maxims of that chat channel is that “disagreements are inevitable”. I suspect there may be a few victims of Fox and Breitbart and related right-wing disinformation, because there’s also been expressions of fear about the antifa extremists, and assertions about how much worse Obamacare made the healthcare industry…

    …and I hate to say it, but I wonder if some of it has to do with dealing with someone from Alaska who may be somewhat isolated from the on-the-ground real problems of structural racism…

  89. 89.

    Origuy

    I was camping in central British Columbia, not really close to any towns, during the Perseid meteor shower one August. After everyone in our group had gone to bed and the moon had set, I got out of my tent to watch the meteors. It was pretty fascinating, but I had to get up early so I didn’t stay out long. Just after I got back in the tent, I saw a streak of light through the thin tent wall. It must have been a spectacular fireball to show through the nylon.

  91. 91.

    NotMax

    @Major Major Major Major

    Not to fret, responses have far exceeded any predictions (as well as the numbers used at the place to make reservations) so you won’t be stuck with solely this socially out of practice, cranky old fart.

    Even invited my step-nephew to pop in after he’s done working downtown, just as a backstop against a dearth of folks. Never too early to cultivate numbers for the next gen of snarling jackals (he’s, IIRC, 25). :)

  92. 92.

    opiejeanne

    @Tom Levenson: Best sky I ever saw was in June Lake on a night when all of the power went out. Every bit of light in the area went out in that part of the Eastern Sierras that night. We went outside and were stunned by how dark it was, and I looked up at the sky and said, “What’s that mess in the air?” Being a SoCal girl, I didn’t recognize the Milky Way because I’d never seen so many stars before, not even at summer camp at Wrightwood or Lazy W on the Ortega Highway. There was always light pollution.

    June Lake is on the loop road off of 395 North of Mammoth; 4 Edison lakes on the June Lake loop. Silver Lake is very pretty but we’ve never caught a fish in it, Grant Lake is aggressively not pretty. Gull Lake is the smallest, and June Lake is Just Right.

  93. 93.

    opiejeanne

    @Origuy: When we lived in the east side of the SF Bay Area we drove out towards Livermore and watched the Perseids one July. Pulled off the 580 in the middle of nowhere and parked on a surface road. It wasn’t the peak but we did see lots of meteors. We couldn’t get away from light pollution completely but by driving there we did get a clear sky.

  94. 94.

    TriassicSands

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Obligations? Obligations? Sell everything! Abandon your friends and family — they’ll only drag you down. Be free!

    Sigh. Obligations never seem to go away, do they? And those friends and family sure can be nice. It’s too bad if you can’t make it back to Death Valley. It may not be the most beautiful place in the US, but it is one of the most fascinating and very much worth visiting. But, if you saw it 50 years ago, you were lucky — I doubt anything has happened in the ensuing decades to improve upon what you saw and experienced. And quite the opposite is possible.

  96. 96.

    TriassicSands

    @Tom Levenson:

    TL pulls the southern hemisphere out of his hat for the win. We’ll have to check the rules to see if that’s fair, Tom — I mean the best skies on the planet for astronomy are in Chile — and going up over 16,000 feet? That’s really cheating. The judges have ruled — the southern hemisphere is fair game. Damn!

  97. 97.

    TriassicSands

    It’s funny, but the best night sky I ever saw wasn’t the darkest, but the opposite — the brightest full moon I’ve ever seen. I was in Yosemite and was hiking back down to the Valley after climbing Half Dome. Liberty Cap glowed in the dark like a tremendous jewel — I’ve never seen anything like it. Years later, a bunch of climbers were sitting around BSing, and the subject turned to the most amazing sights we’d ever seen. I spoke up for that night coming down from Half Dome and another friend said the same view on the same night. Neither us had known the other was hiking down that night, but he was also on his way down from Half Dome, a little behind me and my climbing partner. The moon was so bright you could see colors and easily read a book by the light, and the shadows were razor sharp. But the most beautiful sight by far was Liberty Cap — its granite on fire with reflected moonlight.

  98. 98.

    Matt McIrvin

    @AxelFoley: Just being able to make out the Milky Way is not too hard even from the suburbs, if you get to an area without a lot of streetlights–you just have to know where to look and let your eyes adjust.

    But the kind of view you get from a really dark area is amazing. I remember camping one night in Kaibab National Forest in Arizona and immediately seeing a bunch of constellations I only knew from books.

  99. 99.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Brachiator: The best meteor shower I ever saw was the 1985 Geminids. The frequency of meteors wasn’t the largest, but they were amazingly bright. One was the brightest fireball I’ve ever seen, and left a streak across the whole sky.

    I’ve occasionally watched the Geminids in later years and they have never been quite that good. I haven’t seen other reports of the ’85 shower being unusual, but maybe I was just in the right place at the right time.

  100. 100.

    Matt McIrvin

    …Second best was the famous 1998 Leonid shower, which was predicted to be really good, so I got up in the wee hours and wandered into the dark-ish area around the Mystic Lakes in Arlington, MA and watched it from there. Just lots of meteors.

  101. 101.

    Amir Khalid

    @Brachiator:
    I read the BBC story on that. It seems Fox News didn’t have reporters in Britain. So they carried little if any British national or local news, which limited their audience to the few thousand Britons who really cared about a right-wing take on American news.

  102. 102.

    Dave

    @AxelFoley: It was the one thing, not entirely true, that was amazing about Afghanistan. 8,000ft above sea level at least 30 miles from a light source and even that source was minimal… Really seeing the Milky Way was amazing.

  104. 104.

    J R in WV

    @AxelFoley:

    All you have to do is go to the other end of Virginia, SW VA, or anywhere along the eastern side of West Virginia has plenty of dark sky regions where a short drive away from your hotel or campground will give you the milky way and many other great low-light sights.

    Check out some web pages dedicated to astronomy, like Space.com, Sky and Telescope, use Google to find others. Some things require binoculars or a small telescope, but lots just require a dark sky and patience to sit in the dark for half an hour for your eyes to dark adapt.

    Meteor showers are best seen with just the Mark I eyeball after your eyes adjust to the darkness, about half an hour. I imagine there are rural areas in central VA that would work OK during a clear spell of weather. I live 20 miles from the biggest city in WV, Charleston, and while there is some city light pollution on the horizon, we get good views of the milky way and meteor showers quite often.

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