What a night for star gazing on STJ!

[StJohnbum]

For those of you not familiar with Wings Over Water Villa here is the signature pic from their web page

As you can imagine sitting out on the point like this, between Chocolate Hole and Maria's Bluff, there is virtually no light pollution.

When the owners built the house they did so with star gazing in mind. They mention this in their Villa Welcome book. All of the outside lighting is designed to cast down and promote the best possible star gazing atmosphere (however we turned them all off tonight which was even better).

Early tonight there were no clouds in the sky and the stars were just spectacular! And the weather.......... perfect just doesn't do it justice. We are long time visitors to STJ nearing 20 visits over the last 30 years and I don't recall the weather ever being better than it is this week.

Trip report to come later, but for now, back to the stars!

[Coconuts]

StJohnbum: Congratulations, and second that emotion! The awe-inspiring view of the stars, which until the last century had been everyone's birthright, is now restricted to the few who can get away from modernity's ubiquitous light pollution. St. John has a lot of things going for it, but clear, dark, star-filled night skies are way up there on my list. We were there a few weeks ago, but that trip was centered around a full moon. You are there in the dark of the moon, and that south-facing view you have is pretty much perfect for star-gazing. If you can, try observing late in the evening, when Scorpius and Sagittarius, nominally summer constellations, wheel into view. They are much better placed from the southern latitude of St. John than they are up here in New England. The center of our Milky Way Galaxy lies in Sagittarius, and so there are lots of celestial objects to see there, along with the Milky Way. Scorpius will be due south around 11 PM, with ringed Saturn in its crown, and Sagittarius transits around mid-night. With luck, your villa owners will have provided a pair of binoculars, or a telescope. If not, PM me. A good set of charts for objects to look for are in the following link; especially, check out charts 11 through 14. Enjoy, and remember, as Joni Mitchell put it many years ago: "We are stardust"!

http://carolrpt.com/astroguidev9complete.pdf

All the best,

Kevin

[jimg20]

What Kevin said!

"We have to get our selves back to the garden."

JIM

[StJohnbum]

Kevin:

Thanks for the great reply. You obviously know much more about this subject than I do! I did get back up about 4:00 this morning and took a look and the view of the stars remained stunning. I'll make a point to do it again tonight if we get lucky with a cloud free night. The owners here are on the same page as you with your Villas. They have several sets of binoculars and 5 different Star and Planet guides for differing levels of interest and knowledge. You make a great point about the moon. Our last several trips have all been during or close to a full moon. For this visit the timing just happened to work out differently and much more to our liking. We'll be armed with the reference guides tonight and thanks for the web link.

Scott

[mls10]

Wings over Water is located at the point of Bovocaop Point between Chocolate Hole and Fish Bay. The ambient light from STT cuts down a little on the western sky and the hill behind the house on the northern sky (can't see the Big Dipper), but still a magnificent view especially south-Canopus becomes your favorite star.
For serious star gazers villas blocked from the ambient light of STT tend to be better. Also I think higher elevations are better, but I am not sure why.
Still STJ is way better than what most of us see in the night sky. Usually the Milky Way can be seen anywhere on island and you get tired of seeing Orion including his belt and knife all the time.

[jimg20]

One of the things that affect our vision of the sky is the atmosphere. I'll bet the higher elevation improves visibility slightly because of the slightly thinner atmosphere. Coral Bay and the east end are probably the darkest places on STJ.

JIM

[StJohnbum]

Yes Wings is on Bovocaop Point, not being local I wasn't sure how many folks would be familiar with the reference point. The house on the hill above does give off some light, still compared to home, Louisville, the sky here is amazing. I'm envious of anyone that would become used to seeing the constellations as they have shown themselves to us the last couple of nights. From a layman's point of view I am like a child on Christmas morning. Just soaking in the simple joys of life. The stars aren't quite as spectacular tonight but they are fine as the clouds are quickly tucking them away from sight. The stars, the waves, the breezes........ toss in a couple of vodka and cranberry drinks and this is a night to cherish a life filled with good fortunes. To find myself and the love of my life in such a wonderful place, I am blessed indeed.........for Kate and I it is just great to slow the pace and enjoy the sweet moments in our life. For all of you I wish a love like ours and that you never lose the ability to see life through optimistic eyes.

"As they lay in the grass, gazing at the stars she said "They never tell you the good stuff, you have to make that up for yourself". Here's to a heart forever young....Here's to a magical place and the amazing woman who let's me share it with her!

39 years of marriage and all I can say is what my Grandpa used to say about my Grandmother after 50 years of marriage...... "Look at her. Isn't she something special!" Kate, you are indeed. I love living in the moment with you.......

All, sorry for waxing so romantically...... In the words of Jimmy Stewart in "Harvey" I've tried ever so smart and ever so pleasant..... I recommend pleasant" .... that may not be the exact quote but it is a similar variation.....But I couldn't agree more with the general sentiment.

[patr]

I Love Love Love to gaze at the stars while staying on St John! The sky just seems so much more brilliant & beautiful!

I am such an amateur & find telescopes kind of intimidating.
I have a terrific app called GoSkyWatch - check it out!