Venus at Twilight

Venus at Twilight
Originally uploaded by ChathamGardens

I love following the changes in the evening skies, tracking the phases of the moon, the times of the rising and setting moon and/or sun. I also get great notice of special events from the Nasa site http://science.nasa.gov/

Recently thee was an article that describes the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter over the next several evenings and ending on Dec. 1st with the two planets appearing extremely close together and being joined by the crescent moon.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/24nov_skyshow.htm

The top picture is of Venus which showed up first in tonight's twilight sky.

Not long afterwards you can also pick out Jupiter in the night sky (top of the picture). Each night they will appear to move closer to each other and I hope to be able to get some pictures when the crescent Moon joins the party.

Moonrise at Lighthouse Beach

Moonrise at Lighthouse Beach
Originally uploaded by ChathamGardens

I was down at the lighthouse yesterday afternoon to see the almost full moon rising about an hour before sunset. There were plenty of cloud lines tinged with a pretty pink color and a lovely moon rising over the water. Later that night, when returned from dinner at friends house, I was greeted by the ongoing howling of my local coyotes. It went on for longer then I can ever remember hearing before and it was very scary. I of course solved the problem by taking my hearing aids out - and vanquished those sounds to other ears. And to think the fullest moon isn't for two more days.

Crescent Moon and Venus Over Oyster Pond

Crescent Moon and Venus Over Oyster Pond
Originally uploaded by ChathamGardens

On Halloween night, not long after sunset, a slim crescent moon was setting. The sun was still lighting the horizon with magnficent color and the deepening twilight brought the moon into view. As an added treat, Venus was visible as well, not far above the moon.