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Look up! Notable night sky events this week…
- Aurora! Tuesday saw the brightest aurora hitting Canada and the US since October 2024, with lights visible as far south as Tucson, AZ and all of Florida. Keep an eye out for reports Thursday night to see if activity is present!
- Jupiter now rises at 9:30pm, meaning you can see it easily by 10pm. Find it as a giant bright white dot in the sky to the east, and straight up in the sky by sunrise in the mornings.
- The Moon is n0w two days past 3rd Quarter phase. The New Moon will be November 19th and 20th.
By the time this email reaches you Thursday afternoon, I’ll be driving somewhere up the middle of Nevada, heading north toward Washington State to collect my winter gear that’s been in storage since mid-June.
I’ve been using Sedona as a homebase most of the summer, spending several weeks in town hosting astronomy events before heading off on other adventures. I’ve jumped in and out of Portland, Oregon, passed through Washington, road tripped Idaho (now a Top 5 state for me). I’ve traveled around southern and central California. I hosted events for a bus tour in New Mexico.
But Sedona has been my central hub. My comfort zone of the west. Not so much a home as it has been a base of operations to carry out my first six months of full-time vanlife.
I knew this day would come. I’ve pushed it back a few times. First from mid-September, then from October 10th, then from October 20th…then November 3rd…
And now I am. I’ve reached the moment that’s been looming on the horizon like a wintry sunrise at the edge of the Arctic Circle, glowing softly, but never fully rising.
This is simply one more step on this journey with no end in sight. From Washington, my current plan is to travel onward to Montana, then cross the whole country to work some astronomy events on the east coast I’m in the process of being hired for in northern Georgia (yes, the east coast I ran away from…)
But as you may have gathered, plans, for me, are loose. I travel by the wind, finding the best places to set down the telescope and point up to the stars. Astronomy events are currently guiding my path: until a few days ago, the east coast wasn’t in my plans. I was supposed to go to Montana, then Washington, then San Diego. Things change, and that’s okay. I’m living the life I want to live, doing the work I believe is important for me to do in this moment, and that’s what’s most important to me right now.
So yes, I’m anxious. Because I’m leaving the place that’s been constant for me these past six months. But as I move onward, the anxiety will fade, the spirit of adventure will overtake the scales. I’m excited to go north, even here in the middle of November, because for the first time in years of having lived in Florida, I will experience winter again.
In these final days, I’ve been hiking spots around Sedona I’ve never been with a friend, making the most of early mornings and late nights. Just yesterday, the aurora was visible to the north, hanging above Sedona as a faint reddish glow in the sky. Quite the send-off, really.
At 6am this morning, I set off from Sedona driving over to Nevada, and by Saturday, I will be at the top of the western US.
Goodbye, Sedona. Goodbye, Arizona. Hello, next adventure.
This world is beautiful.
Alex
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