Celestial Moments

pandora

I have one to share

Last evening was our last boat ride of the year, unfortunately.
They are lowering the lake five feet for silt removal and sea wall repair,
such a beautiful season missed. :( And why can't they wait til November?

Anyways a lovely cloudless day brought a beautiful sunset.
The sun blinding until the last moments before it slipped behind the tree line.
A warm glow heated the western sky to a brilliant gold/orange.

We chugged once more up river.

Our lake is fed by a river damned up by two inspired doctors
60 years ago creating a beautiful duet.
One small lake, Lake Jodeco, a peaceful fishing spot, electric motors only.
And our lake, Lake Spivey, 10 miles of coastline, a motorboat lake.

As we turned once again to head towards home
there setting with the sun was the sliver of a crescent moon.
It began in the bright evening sky as a white bit of moon.
As it dropped further and the night sky appeared
it grew in size and changed from white to yellow to a brilliant orange.
Hanging with it there, setting along side was a bright star red Antares,
the brightest in the constellation Scorpius.
Chugging slowly, making full turns,
we meandered until the moon was seen barely through the trees.
Another lovely celestial memory.


Also to enjoy in the eastern sky this month is the amazing bright 'star' ... the planet Jupiter.

http://earthsky.org/tonight a great website to keep you informed as you enjoy the beauty of the night sky.

smarchee

I had one Labour Day Weekend

Basically, out camping way outside of any city and it was either clear or light, transparent clouds rolling overhead. When the night was clear, you could see everything, beautiful sky full of stars, but then some of the background stars would disappear and you could just see most of the bright stars and their light kind of had depth to it, like it was glimmering, and it was from, right before the light clouds came through, there was like a portion of just water vapour and it would add this sheen to the light from the stars, it was so cool, and it did this for hours and I kept watching it.

Then later I smoked a bowl and it cleared up mostly and I could see the Milky Way it was so clear, was a good celestial evening.

OceanInDisguise13

How lovely! It's fleeting moments like that which are the most magical in life! Don't it make you smile!?

Thanks for the link!

pandora

very much so thanks for sharing!

pandora

smarchee wrote:

I had one Labour Day Weekend

Basically, out camping way outside of any city and it was either clear or light, transparent clouds rolling overhead. When the night was clear, you could see everything, beautiful sky full of stars, but then some of the background stars would disappear and you could just see most of the bright stars and their light kind of had depth to it, like it was glimmering, and it was from, right before the light clouds came through, there was like a portion of just water vapour and it would add this sheen to the light from the stars, it was so cool, and it did this for hours and I kept watching it.

Then later I smoked a bowl and it cleared up mostly and I could see the Milky Way it was so clear, was a good celestial evening.

Speaking of the Milkyway...when we vacationed in Bermuda back in '96
I have a lovely memory of the night sky there.
Never had I seen anything like it...
so many stars being way out in the ocean like that, so black.
The kids, hubby and I laid on lawn chairs for hours one evening,
them dozing, me enjoying the ocean breeze blowing,
the splashing waves creating a lovely backdrop to the whistling tree frogs.
That island is a little bit of heaven

pandora

Tonight’s moon is only a prelude to the full Hunter’s Moon that will grace North American skies tomorrow – on Friday evening, October 22. But the moon looks plenty full tonight, too, as it parades across the sky from dusk till dawn.

The full Hunter’s Moon is the name for the full moon that immediately follows the full Harvest Moon.

What are the characteristics of the autumn full moons? The Hunter’s Moon – like the Harvest Moon – is famous for ushering in dusk-till-dawn moonlight for several nights in a row. At mid and far northern latitudes, the lamp of the Hunter’s Moon helps to compensate for the waning October daylight. And so nature provides a balance, for us Earth dwellers.

compliments of http://earthsky.org/tonight

Jason P

Thank you for the link. I have not seen this site before.

smarchee

there seems to be a bright star or planet close to the moon lately

I love staring at Orion in the fall/winter months

pandora

By one definition last night was a Blue Moon! It was lovely lighting the backyard so bright

http://earthsky.org/tonight

smarchee

I went out on my balcony last night (on the 15th floor) and looked up and there was a clear ring around the moon, I forget what the term is called for this, but it was pretty cool to see

Jeanwah

We live in a rural area, on the top of a foothill of the Adirondack mountains so the stars here are so bright and numerous, it usually takes one by surprise (although we've come to get used to it and absolutely love it). And we've nicknamed our house 'big sky country' because we have a great big sky to look out at. Every night we're checking out the sky, it's really beautiful. Venus is usually easily seen most of the year, as well as the Milky Way.

pandora

smarchee wrote:

I went out on my balcony last night (on the 15th floor) and looked up and there was a clear ring around the moon, I forget what the term is called for this, but it was pretty cool to see

Being where you live have you seen the northern lights?
The ring means precipitation to come maybe? Maybe snow!

pandora

Jeanwah wrote:

We live in a rural area, on the top of a foothill of the Adirondack mountains so the stars here are so bright and numerous, it usually takes one by surprise (although we've come to get used to it and absolutely love it). And we've nicknamed our house 'big sky country' because we have a great big sky to look out at. Every night we're checking out the sky, it's really beautiful. Venus is usually easily seen most of the year, as well as the Milky Way.

That sounds wonderful, as much as I love my heavily wooded yard I look forward to Big Sky hopefully at the next house .

smarchee

pandora wrote:

smarchee wrote:

I went out on my balcony last night (on the 15th floor) and looked up and there was a clear ring around the moon, I forget what the term is called for this, but it was pretty cool to see

Being where you live have you seen the northern lights?
The ring means precipitation to come maybe? Maybe snow!

no, too south for northern lights and too close to cities

this is what I saw....

http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonring/

pandora

smarchee wrote:

pandora wrote:

smarchee wrote:

I went out on my balcony last night (on the 15th floor) and looked up and there was a clear ring around the moon, I forget what the term is called for this, but it was pretty cool to see

Being where you live have you seen the northern lights?
The ring means precipitation to come maybe? Maybe snow!

no, too south for northern lights and too close to cities

this is what I saw....

http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonring/

thats some cool info Thanks!

We saw the Northern Lights in Milwaukee once, really cool
you might see them yet!

pandora

Wow look at the moon... its full and orange and beautiful!

February: Snow Moon, Hunger Moon, or Wolf Moon

lovely early spring evening for gazing