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Like a fool, I set off for the dark site yesterday. This was when I realized what was happening and turned around. I am not sure you can see it, but this is not the normal light and sunset colors - we were supposed to have a perfectly clear sky (no haze, no cirrus, high transparency). Absolutely dreadful.
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Yeah we had stunning red and deep orange sunsets here in Spain recently as well, despite the cause indeed being dreadful and the effect on the night sky as well...
Sorry about the smoke everyone! My house was only about 10 km from the fires and for about 5 days the fire danger was so severe, and the smoke so thick we had to evacuate the area. The other 5 days we had to wear N95 masks when we were outside because the air was off the scale of being harmful to breathe. During that whole time, the weather was clear and sunny above the smoke, but we could barely see the sun much of the time. We've had two major storms with a lot of rain the past week, and that's not only cleared out the smoke but has greatly reduced the intensity of the fires. WE might actually have some clear skies this week - a good time to observe Mars!
Good to hear that you, your family and your house remained safe during these troublesome times Howard!
Ivan,
I was in Cherry Springs State Park that night along with about 50+ vehicles. The sunset was surreal. One observer packed up his tent and gear and left. I was with a couple of other club members and after dark, it slowly cleared out enough to observe what I came to see. I took a meter reading of 22.8 = NELM 7.0 at the zenith. About 20 degrees above the horizon, the views were a bit murky. Another member & I left the next morning while the other stayed 1 more night. She said it was not as good as that Monday, 9/14.
Al