The Moon

[vendic]

I took some of the moon last night reflecting across the water. It was a nice sight but I have no idea how the pics came out.

[Thumper]

As it quickly got dark and the short day turned into night, the broken clouds allowed what little heat of the day there was to exhaust. Then a nearly full moon appeared above the horizon. As it climbed into the broken clouds, the patterns in the sky along with those on the snow covered ground were breathtaking. Well it could have been the 14 degrees that was making it hard to breath.

[Parrothead]

Walking home from the local plaza yesterday on a crisp -17C day. The Moon appearing through thin clouds was one of those times I wished I had my camera in my coat pocket. Today is all overcast and blowing snow.

[Thumper]

Holy cow, I saw the Moon. I couldn't have told you when or where to look for it, but I was running the trash can up to the road after sunset last night. I saw a light glow through thin clouds in the Southwest. Later, after I finished up in the garage and was walking to the house, the clouds had cleared and a fairly new crescent Moon hung close to a brilliant Venus. It was comforting that some things are always there and dependable, even if you forget about them for a while.

[geonuc]

I was looking at the moon and Venus last night as well. From a Target parking lot. I didn't know it was Venus but I suspected it was due to the brightness and position.

[grapes]

I was looking at the moon and Venus last night as well. From a Target parking lot. I didn't know it was Venus but I suspected it was due to the brightness and position.

'Twas, and if the parking lot lights hadn't've been so bright you would've seen Mars, at first magnitude. Together the three of them make a nice little cluster tonight

[Swift]

I'm sorry, I'm completely unfamiliar with these objects you speak of. Are they below or above the cloud layer?

[geonuc]

I was looking at the moon and Venus last night as well. From a Target parking lot. I didn't know it was Venus but I suspected it was due to the brightness and position.

'Twas, and if the parking lot lights hadn't've been so bright you would've seen Mars, at first magnitude. Together the three of them make a nice little cluster tonight

I probably saw Mars too then. I think I'll gaze skyward tonight.

[geonuc]

I'm sorry, I'm completely unfamiliar with these objects you speak of. Are they below or above the cloud layer?

Don't worry - they don't actually exist. Just things that scientists claim to exist.

[Rommie]

Venus has been lovely for a few months now, I think it's around peak brightness.

Gorgeous little moon this past weekend. So slender and crisp in the winter sky!

[Thumper]

Sorry Swift, I shared your confusion. But there was this brief moment in time...

I knew Mars was sneaking up on Venus (or is it the other way around?) and that when the Moon cruises by after being new, it sets up a nice little triangle. But I hadn't had any evidence from the field in quite some time.

[vendic]

Last night just after sunset we were looking at the Moon and we saw something we never have before. Some strange cloud pattern was on the horizon that made the Moon look like it was in an eclipse. The lower right 1/3 edge was visible very brightly but the rest of the moon was like a dark silhouette, just barely visible on the background of the sky. The edge receded and got progressively thinner till it disappeared. The Moon was only 8% crescent last night but the effect with the clouds really made it look like we were watching an eclipse.

[Thumper]

Earthshine.

[Rommie]

Yep. I'm surprised you haven't seen it before! Some months are definitely stronger than others- climate scientists have done studies about cloud cover and Earthshine, because it's basically the Earth being super bright bouncing light back up there, and clouds are the most reflective of course.

Always blows my mind a bit when I see it because I remember hearing once the moon's reflectivity is on par with an asphalt parking lot. So how damn bright must the Earth be from the moon...

[Thumper]

According to the astronauts who viewed Earth from the Moon, "Breathtakingly bright, and beautiful."

[vendic]

Oh I have seen Earthshine before, many times. I guess I didn't describe this properly, so I'll try again.
The difference between what we saw and normal Earthshine, is that the latter stays constant. e.g it was a 8% crescent Moon so it should have stayed as a 8% crescent Moon. IOW, it should have looked constant.
What happened for us is that the weird cloud cover made it literally look like an eclipse just before totality and as we watched it kept heading for totality and finally we got an effect similar to a diamond ring. There was a point only on that was very bright while the rest was just shadow. Soon after it completely disappeared. So it went from 8% crescent to 7,6,5,4,3,2,1% then a bright point before finally gone. The weird part was that the Earthshine was visible all through the process and it was so constant a rate with no visible clouds.
I've never seen that effect before and it was just amazing.

[Thumper]

Been looking at the "Pink Moon" for the last couple of days. This morning, it actually looked pink. In fact the whole sky was pink.

[Thumper]

Beautiful Moon rising last night through very interesting clouds. It was fairly peach or orange colored playing hide and seek through streaking cloud lines. We were driving home after Guardians of the Galaxy II so I pretended it was one of the physics defying ships coming in for yet another impossible crash landing.

This morning it was somewhat cloudy but the disk of the Moon was able to shine through in a fuzzy disk.

[Thumper]

This thread got left out in the cold during the eclipse conversation. Yesterday morning a caught a very thin orange sliver of the Moon as it was rising in the pre dawn sky. I realized we were coming up on one month since the total eclipse. What I didn't realize was that the Moon just went through a cluster of occultations in the last day or so. The Moon passed in front of Regulus Venus, Mars, and Mercury in about a 24 hour period. At the time I briefly viewed, it had already passed in front of Venus for sure. I think most of the other occultations actually occurred during daylight hours when viewed from North America.

[Rommie]

I confess I've been weirded out the last month when the moon has caught my eye. Because my mind still hasn't been able to reconcile well that shiny orb thing with that black hole sun of the apocalypse from the eclipse.

[Thumper]

I confess I've been weirded out the last month when the moon has caught my eye. Because my mind still hasn't been able to reconcile well that shiny orb thing with that black hole sun of the apocalypse from the eclipse.

I guess that's why I'm going to now chase total eclipses the rest of my life.

[Thumper]

Big bright Moon on the Western horizon this morning. Very eerie with a glow around it and sharp dark clouds streaking across it. It was certainly a scary Halloween Moon. But it seemed oddly familiar and comforting to me.

[pumpkinpi]

There was a beautiful post-harvest full Moon setting in a foggy sky as I drove in this morning.

[SciFiFisher]

We are starting to stay dark longer in the morning. About the only way you can really tell it is fall in Sacramento. The moon was full and very bright this morning at 0600.

[Thumper]

We saw it Tuesday morning and evening. Then I saw it Wednesday morning. It's been somewhat cloudy since then. Although when I woke up in the middle of the night last night, it must have been briefly clear because it was all lit up outside. On my way up the drive, I had a clear view of a doe and her fawn right next to me because of the moon light. They didn't budge, apparently, they're not scared of me.