From: blockedofcourse@foo.invalid   
      
   >  > Stuff left outdoors, here, takes a real beating.  We have over 300   
   "sunny"   
   >  > days, annually (and perhaps only a dozen truly "overcast" days; the rest   
   >  > being a mixture).  We have ~60 days above 100F -- though have had as   
   >  > any as 99 in the years I've been here.   
   > Here it is rain and high humidity that kill them by corrosion.   
      
   You can identify the automobiles that aren't garaged, here, as their   
   paint has peeled, etc.  Landau roofs just disintegrate.   
      
   >  > We have REALLY dark skies, here.  It is possible to watch meteor showers,   
   >  > satellite passages, etc. with the naked eye.  (We do so for most of the   
   >  > bigger meteor showers)  The biggest offender is light leaking from the   
   >  > windows in your own home!   
   > I remember observing at Zion canyon once and a young deer stumbled into me in   
   > the dark. The mountain outline was still visibly darker than the sky but the   
   > ribbon of the milkyway was incredible. I live in a darker rural part of the   
   UK   
   > where it is visible but never like that.   
      
   We are "in town" and still have very dark skies.  If I go out in the front yard   
   after dark, I carry a flashlight lest I startle some "wildlife" and find   
   myself unexpectedly on the defensive.   
      
   I installed five 34W LED floodlights in the back yard -- to replace the   
   five 300W halogens I had initially installed -- to make sure I can   
   identify anything in the BACk yard before venturing out.  We've often   
   had coyote, a few bobcats and a mountain lion, recently.  Looking out   
   the window does you no good in identifying them.   
      
   I'm sure my neighbors are thrilled with the "daylight" that regularly   
   appears at 4AM (the time I put out the hummingbird feeders to avoid   
   their being targeted by bats)   
      
   > We do see meteor showers clearly at least when the clouds permit...   
      
   I found my first to be literally breathtaking.  An interesting   
   sensation, at my age, when you think you've seen all such events.   
      
   I now make a point to wander out and watch each (even in November,   
   you can do that without a jacket)   
      
   >  > As it is such an arid climate, cloud cover is relatively rare (though we   
   >  > got screwed last week as we had one of our infrequent storms coincident   
   >  > with the Leonids).  The huge expanses of "empty" (desert) land also   
   >  > help maintain that level of darkness.   
   > There is a reason why optical observatories like high desert locations.   
      
   Here, they make a deliberate effort to promote the dark skies.   
   Lots of optics done here.  The Mirror Lab is known for making some   
   of the larger ones in recent history:   
      
      
      
   You *really* want to touch it, it just looks SOOOOOO smooth!   
      
   (I think they are working on Giant Magellan, now)   
      
   >  > My intent is just to integrate "light" for some period at some direction   
   at   
   >  > some time.  And, correlate this with other observations "this date, last   
   >  > year",   
   >  > "yesterday", etc. to get a feel for what the skies look like.   
   > One thing that may be useful to know is that yesterday 4 minutes later than   
   > clock time now the sky should look identical to today (AOTBE).   
   > Strictly 3m 56s. Sidereal day is 3m 56s shorter than mean solar time.   
      
   I will just make a service that gets me information on a particular   
   object from this location at some specific date/time.  That will let me   
   plan how to scan the sky for any given information deemed pertinent,   
   "now".  E.g., if I suspect precipitation, I would typically look   
   to the south and west, this time of year.  If trying to gauge PV efficiency,   
   I might look east to get an early peek at cloud cover at the sunlit horizon.   
      
   >  > Much like a regular Joe would do:  "It's cloudy tonight.  No need to   
   >  > protect   
   >  > the cold sensitive plants as it likely won't get very cold."  His   
   knowledge   
   >  > of the past/future isn't anywhere near as specific as that of a machine   
   >  > -- yet,   
   >  > serves him well (enough).   
   > For that you probably want windspeed and a simple skyward and ground facing   
   > thermocouple pair. Rapid cooling of the skyward one means real risk of frost.   
      
   I can "spend money" on weather-related kit as it has a real payback   
   (if it helps me manage power and water utilities).  The trick   
   is getting information that has real value instead of just "numerical   
   value" (neighbor can tell me barometric pressure, wind speed, temperature,   
   etc. but that doesn't tell HER anything!)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)