vastateofmind

.21" since midday...wowzers!

Yeah. I've had all of the patio furniture and grill uncovered for literally weeks...can't remember the last time I put the covers on the furniture or grill. The upshot is that we got to enjoy all of late summer and early/mid autumn outside during ALL of Aug/Sep/Oct. I know we still need more rain...but I also know that we'll be called to pay for this weather at some point in the future -- likely in the Jan-Apr timeframe in the new calendar year, in the way of cool and wet.

Okay...Oct obs comment of the month so far. Just my dos centavos...

Quick shot from the backyard over the weekend...much of it is now turning that lovely shade of dull brown/dirty yellow. That myrtle on the right has never gotten that brilliant shade of red-orange ever...but when the sun hit that myrtle from late morning to late afternoon, the inside of the rooms on the backside of the house were painted in the most gorgeous reddish light. Stunning.

Aaaaaand...nada! Every one of those showers that we're coming in from our west fell apart when each one tried to cross I-95. Interesting. Was really hoping to measure some precip, since I just installed a new wx station in the backyard. Anyone to the west observe any showers, aside from @Weather Will?

Looks like that chance of showers is gonna verify shortly...based on those VERY dark clouds incoming at lower right.

And which general sky direction? Gonna try tonight...

So, this is similar (if even more muted than here) that I got last Thursday evening IMBY about 15 miles south of the District, with all of the light pollution of the city (mostly) ruining my pics. However, I feel like, with the extra townhomes, balconies, etc. appearing in your pics...yours are even more interesting. Thx for sharing.

Share pics!!!!!

I couldn't see a thing with the naked eye. And maybe iPhones only take a few seconds long shot...but I selected "Night Sight" mode on my Pixel, and because it was mounted on a tripod...waited a few seconds to go into "Astrophotography" mode, which take a 4-minute long shot...which is how (I believe) I captured the little bit of visible aurorae in the close-in NoVA burbs. With the city due north, it's damn near impossible here.

Damn...these morning lows are impressive, even for early/mid Oct. Of course, my backyard sensor's batteries for our indoor/outdoor thermometer crapped out, but I think we generally got down to 42/43 territory in these parts, based on neighbors' wx station readings. First order of business today...pulling up those saved listings for a "big boy" wx station. Enough of the babytown frolics with the cheaper equipment...

This x1000 -- I turned off all of our backyard/patio lights and still couldn't quite overcome the "airport runway" lighting of adjacent neighbors, let alone the damnable light pollution from the city. Just wasn't in the cards for me, since we need to focus on the northern half of the horizon...and the city is pretty much due north of us. This was the best that I could capture, after 25 takes, each about 3-4 minutes in length...and actually snapped this one looking northeast, FFS. OTOH, I thoroughly enjoyed everyone sharing your gorgeous pics here...also had friends from central PA, the MD/DE beaches AND SC send equally vivid pics. I guess I'm just gonna have to resort to "aurora chasing" in the future.

Believe me, I get it. Mrs V and I...it's a GREAT night if we can stay awake until 10:30 to finish MAYBE a couple streaming sitcoms OR a SINGLE drama episode. We're pathetic. But...I'm gonna set up my tripod in my severely light-polluted cul de sac later tonight and give it the old college try!

I would imagine that you and your fam are sitting very pretty in your location to see SOMETHING this evening...plz take pics if you do! And yeah, I just told my office team about tonight's potential space wx...most of 'em responded the same way you did, e.g., sure I hope to be UP past 10 p.m.

Maryland Dark Sky Parks & Places | Stargazing & Astrotourism (go-astronomy.com)