Clear Sky, Bright Moon

YOU MIGHT LIKE...

Midday Bicycle Break

July 23, 2020

Jupiter and Venus After Sunset, February 26th, 2023

February 26, 2023

Starlog April 29th, 2018, 10:45 p.m. local time

My sky was remarkably clear all weekend.  Blue skies at day and clean skies all night.  Just one problem, though – the Moon was approaching Full and washed much of the sky out.  So I settled for looking at the Moon, mostly.  Jupiter was trailing behind the Moon on Sunday evening, but unfortunately I would have had to wait another 90+ minutes before it cleared my trees, and I could not stay up past midnight.

I took the above picture using my Dobsonian and smartphone.  I have mentioned before that the Full Moon is the least interesting of all of the Moon’s phases.  There are no crater shadows, no crescents or odd-shaped ovals.  No new thin outlines in early evening or old thin outlines at dawn.  Looking at the Full Moon is like staring at a moderately bright light bulb.

It is still fun to look at.  The brightness is a marvel, whether it is by the Moon illuminating your night surroundings or (my favorite) by you observing the light reflections off of cloud cover.