Scattered Thoughts . . .

We have a significant astronomical event fast approaching.  On December 21st, Jupiter and Saturn will appear as one bright star in the sky because they will be lined up almost one behind the other.  To the naked eye, they will likely appear as one.  Through a telescope, they will be separated enough to get a nice photo of the two of them in the same frame.  These two planets won't appear this close together in our sky again for another 60 years so I'm hoping the weather cooperates.  Actually, I question whether the Earth will even support human life and an ecosystem as we know it 60 years from now, honestly.  This conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs every 20 years, approximately.  Some are closer than others.  This 2020 conjunction will show Jupiter and Saturn appearing closer than usual in our sky on the 21st.   Since this is a significant astronomical event, I've been planning and preparing.  I've pulled out the appropriate astronomy gear and even assembled and d

A few days ago, while still recovering from mast cell symptoms, the sun had peaked through the clouds so I grabbed a lightweight telescope with a solar filter and headed outside.   I wasn't feeling well enough to do any solar imaging (that can get complicated and involves a lot more gear...  as well as a clear head) so I just grabbed one of my lightest scopes which happens to be my lowest quality scope too.  Even though this was my lowest quality scope, I knew it would be good enough for a few quick views of the sun.  Besides, it was still mostly cloudy and the sun was just peaking out in between clouds.  I knew the solar observing would be short-lived on this day so it would have been a waste to use up energy on my better, heavier and bulkier astronomy gear. The moment I peered through the telescope, I realized that the sky conditions were lousy too.  I hadn't noticed it before but it was hazy and the sun was veiled in thin clouds that I could see passing in front of the sun. 

The other night, around the time we were heading to bed, I started having typical mast cell disease breathing difficulties again only days after another miserable night of breathing difficulties.   This is a fairly common symptom for my primary illness so, at this point, common symptoms like breathing problems alone don't raise any red flags.  If a second symptoms appears while struggling with the first, then that does raise red flags which indicates the start of a cascading of symptoms and I need to start on emergency medications but that didn't happen the other night.  I was just experiencing what I would call and felt were moderate breathing difficulties. Sheila reminded me to check my O2 saturation level...  so I did and it was at 87%.  That may seem okay and a decent number but it is actually considered very low.  They say that normal breathing is in the 98-100% range.  "Moderate" breathing difficulties are experienced in the range of ± 94%.  Once you get down t