Crescent Hunting

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0) Note that the Moon is about one day past New (will be approx. 31 hrs, 25 min old @ end of local civil twilight -- should be fairly easy to spot at that age).

1) Check Forecast: Clear, chilly & breezy (perfect -- and it'll cut down on the riff-raff).

2) Check timing of sunset, twilight and moonset.

3) Check lunar altitude/azimuth for your location and timeframe.

4) Load cooler/thermos and/or water and BP stove.

5) Pack binoculars, hat, gloves et c.

6) Haul ass to an observing site with a clear view to the WSW.

”

“Clouds are scooting across our sky so fast we may actually get to see the moon and stars tonight. I printed off the picture.
Thanks Tilt!”

“frackin' Clouds!

grrrrr.....”

“thanks Tilt, i shall try for that, barring clouds which appear to be a problem at this moment.”

“Maybe the clouds will be better behaved tomorrow for the Moon-Venus conjunction.”

“that sounds even prettier Tilt!”

“as Bugs would say, "Could beeeee..."”

“That went rather well.

It was Severe Clear out there tonight, folks! I tracked that crescent right down into the trees on the other side of the reservoir. No need for binoculars and compass to locate it; it was plainly visible as soon as I got out of the car and looked up.

Cassiopia was off to the right. To the left were Orion and Canis Major with Rigel, Sirius and Betelgeusebetelgeusebetelgeus shining brightly. Taurus and the Seven Sisters were overhead. As it got darker, the Milky Way became more visible... the Double Cluster appeared between Cassiopea and Perseus. Just right of Venus and the Moon, the Great Square of Pegasus stood with one corner on the horizion with Andromeda extending from the top. And just to the right of Andromeda, our galaxy's twin: M31, that tiny fuzzy patch of light that took two million years to get here.

yowza.”

“so much for proofreading! LOL”

“It happens.

No crescent viewing for us (we had to go into the restaurant just as dusk approached) but it was nice getting to point out Venus to Ab. She thought that was pretty darn cool.”

“Tilt - It's cold down here. I'll just take your word for it. Thanks for the links.
last edited: 2/19/07 7:58:11 AM”

“Watch out --- If you get them interested in the stars, they won't want to come inside at night [WINK]


Don't freeze down there NS! What was the low temp last night?”

“We were heading back from a birthday party and spotted the new moon to the west. I pointed it out to the kids and said it was either Jupiter, Saturn, or Venus just above it. I didn't think it was bright enough for Venus but the sun had just set and there was lots of light still in the sky.

I'll have to get the telescope out for the kids now that it'll start warming up soon.”

“Cool deal --

If it's that bright and near the Sun (pre-dawn or post-sunset), it's a good bet that it's Venus --- or the landing lights of an approaching aircraft.”

“my husband saw the crescent & venus, but i was working of course.”

“I was lucky to catch it Sunday night --- Last night the CLOUDS moved in.”

“My kids love crescents.

Fresh from the oven, oozing melted butter...”

“Je t'aime croissants aussi --- [G]”

“


If you manage to spot the Moon on March 19, you are a bad-azz crescent hunter fo' SHO'”

“bump!


At moonset in This neighborhood (~1 hr after sunset), the Moon will be ~22 hours old, sooooooooooo it may be more do-able than previously thought [cloud cover notwithstanding (grrrr)].

Unfortunately, now that the weather has warmed up, the bass buddies will be out in force with their Coleman lanterns running at full blast, frickin' light-polluters... !”

“"Bass Buddies" ???

I'm afraid to ask!”

“Tilt...whats even more fun is the "fishing start" at 5AM....”

“Drag boats with fishing poles sticking out the back... Gotta get to the primo spot first, eh?

Bass Buddies can be readily identified on the water by their transportation (I guess there aren't too many bass boats up the Chesapeake). It's a relatively small, relatively flat fibreglass boat with a pedestal seat and an electric trolling motor up front, and a V6 outboard on the back. They appear to have two speeds: ~60 mph, and ~0.01 mph.

At night, to avoid running aground at ~60 mph they continuously shine million+ candlepower lights all around.”

“It was a pretty clear sunset yesterday. There was just one patch of clouds.... right on the western horizon (oy vey!).
Mr. Moon will be lots higher tonight, and quite a bit brighter.”

“Gorgeous moon tonight! Caught it just before the clouds rolled in.”

“Yep! Followed it all the way down into the trees with the binocs.”

“It was a gorgeous slender crescent here too, until it was low in the sky and the darned clouds rolled in.”

“

from http://www.spaceweather.com/”

“Kewl pic!”

“No crescents for me this month unless they're baked --- looks like clouds instead.

Thursday pm should be pretty cool if you have a clear view.”

“Just saw it tonight, very beautiful! I'll seriously have to watch for it tomorrow too!”

“Space Weather News for May 19, 2007
http://spaceweather.com

DON'T MISS THIS: When the sun sets tonight (Saturday, May 19th), go outside and look west. Venus and the crescent Moon will pop out of the twilight barely 1-degree apart. It's a spectacular pairing of the two brightest objects in the night sky. The display will be visible from brightly lit cities and even through thin clouds. Visit http://spaceweather.com for a sky map and photos.

If a friend sent you this alert and you would like to subscribe, click here: http://spaceweather.com/services/”

“I'm heading out in about a half-hour to get away from the light-polluted 'civilization' (such as it is around here).  And I'm looking at the latest satellite images online so I can tell who's got clouds and who doesn't!  No excuses and no whining!

Set your alarm clocks if you have to ---- then stick your heads out the damn window and take a look!  [VBG]”

“We had a grea view for the last 3 or 4 nights in Montreal. Clear skies and mild temps!!!...for once. I knew it was too bright to be a star and I thought it could be Mars or Venus.”

“It was a great opportunity to observe how the Moon moves relative to other objects. Right at sunset the Moon was below and to the right of Venus. By the time I headed back to town it had obviously passed by the planet.”

“Wow Tilt, this particular shot even made the 11:00 news last night.”

“prefers a full moon to a crescent”

“I noticed it Friday, but didn't on Sat. What a shame as I was driving West. Must've had my mind elsewhere.”

“That's not toooo dissimilar to how I missed the comet (McNaught) back in January.  I was up at the lake hiking, was about a mile away from a great sunset spot (the same place I was last night)... I just didn't know about it.  I saw it on the 'Net that night ---- then the clouds rolled in for a solid week and when they cleared, the comet was headed for Australia!  Missed the whole freakin' thing!  (grrrrr 1024x)

I'm attempting to compensate by having this as my screen background, LOL


McNaught was the subject of the APOD no less than 17 times.... (the first one on the list, chronologically, was another one from 2001: McNaught-Hartley)”

“
Busy week !

Tonight ---- 4% lit waxing crescent sets about 1:40 after sunset (at this latitude, anyway).  Jupiter is filling in as the Evening Star temporarily..... Mars and Betelgeuse are rising just as the crescent Moon sets, closely followed by Castor & Pollux (in Gemini).

Also ---- The big puffball (Comet McNaught) is still visible to the east.

Thurday ---- GEMINIDS!   (about one per minute if you can get away from the freakin' lights!)  It's also about the best time of year for sporadic meteors in the Northern hemisphere.  4 1/2 day-old crescent sets about 9 pm.

      May the Schwartz be with you ---

”

“Not to be a pain, but do you have something (a link maybe) that briefly explains Geminids? (origin, history)
Any info would be cool. Thanky!”

“Geeeez...you are such a painy in the arsy!!! LOL JK

Tilt...what is that big GOLD looking light in the East...is that Jupiter?”

“That would be my arsy.”

“You mean there is more things in the sky than just the gray clouds I've been seeing for the past 4 days?”

“OH Zac...must I tell you about blue skies and temps in the 70's????

Someone forgot to alert Old Man Winter to visit the south!”

“Are you kidding we're having a heat wave here today. It's going to get above freezing for the first time in almost 10 days.”

“Don't put me on the spot with COLORS,.... but Mars is pretty bright at the present time and comes up just to the left of Orion in the east, about an hour after sunset.  Jupiter's to the west....

Hmmm... Actual peak for the Geminids is expected about noon on the 14th (EST), so Thursday or Friday should both be good (moonset is later on Friday night, but it's still a resonably small crescent).


Good sources for current meteor info are the folks at the IMO, AMS or NAMN, but they can be on the technical side.

The IMO Calendar is handy for advance planning (just keep scrolling down 'til you get to December). The Calendar for 2008 has been posted.

Spaceweather.com is pretty good and more accessible, but they seem to be SLACK at the moment concerning the Geminids. They ought to have something up about them in the next day or so!

History.... Hmmm....

Here's an article thats talks about when they first appeared and how they come from an asteroid instead of a comet....

Here's another at Sky & Telescope

S&T's main page and their weekly "Sky at a Glance" are handy to keep up with what's going on in general.”

“ooops...sorry bout the color deal :-(

The moone was cool around 5:45 as the sun was setting.”