A Moment with the Universe

I felt compelled to share this. 

It was 10:10 PM last night.  I had decided to take a break from the computer and walked upstairs to grab myself a drink. Entering the dark kitchen, I noticed the pale blue moonlight pouring across the floor, gently bathing the room in a soft lunar glow - I smiled and approached the window and tilted my head upward. I gazed in wonder as my eyes settled upon Jove and Luna, which hung so majestically between a gap in the treeline. In that very moment, a meteor streaked eastward, passing between the two. It was magical.

Moments like these are my reward for looking toward the night sky.  They allow me a unique glimpse of the universe; to feel connected to it (as we so often don't in our modern lives), and to feel humbled.

Moon Report 8/19

Tonight's forecast finally called for a cloud free sky, and I couldn't wait to get out and sight up the moon.  The humidity was a little higher than ideal; 75%.  The view was a tad hazy, and a faint glow could be seen around the moon, but the air was pretty still.  I started setting up about 8:30; no reason to wait until complete darkness to view the moon.
It wasn't but a few minutes until I heard the buzzing of mosquitoes - talk about a party crasher.  I went out without bug repellent and didn't set up any fans; I wasn't planning on staying out long anyway.  I did, however, get some satisfying scope time identifying some of the major features using the map at InOMN.  Copernicus and Tycho looked great, and the Apennine Mountain range was a real pleasure.  I didn't last for more than 10 minutes, the mosquitoes were too much to deal with (btw, Burt's Bees Outdoor Bug Bite Relief works great).  I did manage to snap a few photos of Luna before heading in.  29 days until InOMN!

International Observe the Moon Night

You know what celestial object I think often gets overlooked [at least in my circle of friends]?  The Moon.  However, I think that's going to change.  On June 18, 2009 NASA launched the LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter).  LRO and LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020.  To celebrate this achievement, we have the International Observe the Moon Night, which will be held on September 18, 2010.  The mission of this event is to educate the general public, amateur astronomers and general space science enthusiasts in NASA's involvement in lunar research and exploration.  So what do they want us to do?  Share!  Learn!   The moon is the closest celestial object to us - it's right next door, and we still have to much yet to learn from it.
So about observing the moon - you don't need a telescope.  Binoculars would be great, and even if you only have your naked eye, there is still much beauty to see.  It's one thing just just stare at the moon, but much more fun to get intimate with it.  Go to the InOMN site and get yourself a copy of this moon map, and see if you can identify these major lunar landmarks.  Identifying these parts of our moon will not only make the object seem less alien to you, but hopefully spark an interest in space exploration.  Have fun!

Perseids Under Way

Naturally we have cloudy weather for the peak of the Perseid meteor shower.  I'm pretty bummed about it.

Edit: 8/13 - The clouds cleared for about 45 minutes, enough to catch 6 meteors, 3 of which were probably mag -1 to my eyes.  Also, very clear and black skies with low humidity revealed the Milky Way to the best I've ever seen it from my yard - a great view to end my night.


As sort of a consolation, I found this live stream from NASA.  You can watch and listen to the meteors as they pass.

Perseid Meteor Streaks Over Lake Erie 

Perseids over Chickamauga, GA

 Image credit NASA