It’s Sunday evening, November 1st, 2026 as I write this. Daylight Savings Time ended at 2AM earlier this morning.

To most folks that means an extra hour of sleep, but to the amateur astronomer that means you get an extra hour of night… well, you know what I mean.

Sundown was at 16:55 Central Standard Time (CST) and the Moon’s not going to rise until 23:30, plenty of time for observing…except its cloudy… and going to be overcast for the next several days here in the Southeast. There’s a chance of rain on Wednesday and we really need it so I won’t whine… too much.

This is the hobby we have chosen.

Amateur Astronomers are a patient bunch. If you’re not you don’t stay an Amateur Astronomer for long…. Clouds just mean we shift gears a little to what is usually called “armchair astronomy”. In other words we’re going to spend some extended time in the forums, the classified sites, or looking up the specs on some new piece of equipment we’re lusting after. This is almost as much fun as observing.

The forums always have some intense discussions on the best telescope/eyepiece/mount combination for either visual or imaging. The classifieds always leave your mouth agape at what people think their stuff is worth, and the shiny ads on the vendor sites make you drool until you see the prices. Your present equipment always looks better after perusing the latest offerings bottom line.

An overcast night gives you an opportunity to clean your optics, check the charge your batteries, double check the weather, and catch up on the latest seasonal observing list. You also bring up your favorite planetarium app and set the date for when the weather is supposed to clear in the next few days. You can check the moon and sun set and rise times for then and make out a rough timeline for your future observing list. You end the evening going over articles and reviews and you might even have an honest to goodness paper copy of Amateur Astronomy Magazine. If not, you read the latest copies of the other Astro Magazines on your Kindle or tablet.

A clear transparent night is desirable but there’s really not a single night that’s ever wasted.

Fred

Birmingham, AL