Monsoon Season kicked in on Wednesday, 2 July 2025, with some rain (0.05"). Thursday night, 3 July, a brief thunderstorm dropped about 0.25" rain in 10 minutes with a total from the storm of 0.41".

Thursday evening, 10 July, I attended the revitalization meeting of the Oracle Dark Skies Committee. The next meeting was to be on 24 July, however, unforeseen circumstances have delayed it.

Sunday, 13 July, the sky was very hazy, apparently from smoke from the large White Sage and Dragon Bravo fires at the Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona.

Monday afternoon, 14 July, a brief thunderstorm came through (0.06"). Tuesday, 15 July, there were strong thunderstorms in the area, but very little rain here (0.01"). Wednesday morning, 16 July, had some brief light rain (0.05").

Friday night, 18 July, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 2052 MST. Cloud cover in Oracle about 80 minutes after local sunset hampered the view. I took these photographs with an Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max (Night Mode, 3 seconds, handheld).

2056 MST (1X lens)


2057 MST (2X lens)


2058 MST (2X lens)

---

Comments are welcome using Email. Please read the Email Etiquette guidance.

---

Previous report

Cassiopeia Observatory Home Page