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Sky Watch
Nov 26, 2019 15:22:57 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Nov 26, 2019 15:22:57 GMT
I’m always surprised how good the sky-watching is on Sanibel. No mountains or towering pines to block our view and very few lights. There’s actually a Dark Skies ordinance that prohibits upward- and outward-directed lighting, though many older fixtures are grandfathered in till they rust out. Plus the homes along the beach are not allowed to leave lights on at night because it confuses hatching sea turtles. So a walk on the beach reveals a whole skyfull of stars, unless the moon is bright, which it wasn’t on Thursday.
You might say “all the stars aligned” for good meteor watching!
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Sky Watch
Nov 28, 2019 23:45:26 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Nov 28, 2019 23:45:26 GMT
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 30, 2019 10:09:28 GMT
Oh yes...the moon was a slim pinkish crescent last night. I love Venus too...it's so cheerful
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Sky Watch
Nov 30, 2019 12:27:24 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Nov 30, 2019 12:27:24 GMT
Last night, it was fainter Saturn next to the moon and bright Venus below. Jupiter closer to horizon.
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Post by casimira on Dec 12, 2019 19:06:25 GMT
The last FULL MOON of the decade will occur tonite 12/12 at 12 Midnite.
Known as the "Cold Moon".
Also several meteor showers are predicted.
Unfortunately, it is forecast to be overcast here so little chance of us being able to view it.
I hope you have good visibility in Sanibel Kimby.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 12, 2019 20:19:35 GMT
You make the full moon sound so rare. It is pouring rain tonight in Paris.
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Sky Watch
Dec 12, 2019 23:25:28 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Dec 12, 2019 23:25:28 GMT
The last FULL MOON of the decade will occur tonite 12/12 at 12 Midnite. Known as the "Cold Moon". I hope you have good visibility in Sanibel Kimby. Nope, back in the cold (and cloudy) northland already. But our last couple nights on Sanibel we took moonlit walks on the beach.
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Sky Watch
Dec 21, 2019 15:25:26 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Dec 21, 2019 15:25:26 GMT
Happy Solstice! Depending on where you are in your time zone, you may already be having later sunsets or earlier sunrises. Here in Missoula Montana, the sunsets are already later, but sunrises are later, too. Here’s a fun site that you can get your actual sunrise and sunset for your location for any day of the year. Drag the slider bar back and forth over the graph of daylight hours to see sunrise and sunset times for your city. www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/missoulaOur earliest sunset was on December 7&8, at 4:47. It’s 4:50 now, on the solstice.
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Sky Watch
Dec 21, 2019 15:33:40 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Dec 21, 2019 15:33:40 GMT
Our sunrises will start getting earlier on Jan 1st. Dec 30 & 31 are the latest sunrises at 8:21 am.
BTW our latest sunset of the year falls on June 22, at 9:34 sun time 10:34 daylight savings time. You can still read a book outside at nearly 11 pm! (Don’t need no stinkin daylight savings time!)
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Sky Watch
Dec 21, 2019 15:38:17 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Dec 21, 2019 15:38:17 GMT
And strangely, our earliest sunrises occur on the TEN DAYS from June 12 to June 22, at 5:41 am (6:41 with daylight savings time).
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Sky Watch
Dec 30, 2019 15:12:57 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Dec 30, 2019 15:12:57 GMT
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Dec 31, 2019 10:26:56 GMT
Here in the northern hemisphere we've been getting some splendid views of the Moon and Venus, it was particularly attractive a few nights back when we had a clear (for once) inky blue sky and a sliver of a crescent Moon with a dazzlingly bright Venus. Heavenly
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Sky Watch
Jan 4, 2020 23:31:42 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Jan 4, 2020 23:31:42 GMT
January 5 is Perihelion! Soak up some rays!
“Our planet Earth will reach its closest point to the sun for 2020 on January 4 or 5, depending on your time zone. It happens on January 5 at 07:48 UTC. In United States time zones, that’s January 5 at 2:48 a.m. Eastern Time, 1:48 a.m. Central Time, 12:48 a.m. Mountain Time – and January 4, at 11:48 p.m. Pacific Time, 10:48 p.m. Alaskan Time and 9:48 p.m. Hawaiian Time. Translate UTC to your time.
Astronomers call this celebrated point in Earth’s elliptical orbit around the sun perihelion, from the Greek roots peri meaning near and helios meaning sun.
At its closest point, Earth swings to within 91,398,199 miles (147,091,144 km) of the sun. That’s in contrast to six months from now, when the Earth reaches aphelion – its most distant point – on July 4, 2020. Then we’ll be 94,507,635 miles (152,095,295 km) from the sun.
In other words, Earth is roughly 3 million miles (5 million km) closer to the sun in early January than it is in early July. That’s always the case. Earth is closest to the sun every year in early January, when it’s winter for the Northern Hemisphere.
We’re farthest away from the sun in early July, during our Northern Hemisphere summer.“
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 23, 2020 17:57:26 GMT
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Sky Watch
Mar 8, 2020 20:29:46 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Mar 8, 2020 20:29:46 GMT
March super moon on Monday will be one of 2020's closest, brightest
Here's a reason to look forward to Monday - a "super moon" is going to light up the sky.
The moon will look full to the eye on Sunday and Monday with the crest of the full moon falling on Monday. The moon will reach its peak "fullness" around 1:45 p.m.
Earthsky.org says the moon will be 222,081 miles (357,404 km) from the earth. The April 8 super moon will be slightly closer at 221,851 miles away. The most distant full moon of the year will come on Oct. 31 (spooky!). A super moon is a new or full moon that closely coincides with perigee, the moon's closest point to Earth in orbit.
Another full moon supermoon will come on May 7. Three new moon supermoons will come in the fall.
In North America, the March full moon is sometimes called the worm moon. The worm moon origin comes from the ground thawing and worms reappearing in the soil. It's also called the crow moon or sap moon.
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Post by casimira on Mar 9, 2020 14:21:25 GMT
Thanks for that Kimby!
It sure was bright last night !!
We are having clear skies here again tonight so I am looking forward to seeing it at it's fullness.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 11, 2020 1:30:09 GMT
Night before last I got up to pee and went into a snit because of the very bright light coming around the curtains in my bedroom. Did the neighbors behind me replace the porch klieg light they sometimes leave on with an entire baseball stadium's worth of lights? Furiously, I drew back the curtain to see that all of that light came from the moon!
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Sky Watch
Mar 11, 2020 1:48:39 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Mar 11, 2020 1:48:39 GMT
😁
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Sky Watch
Mar 19, 2020 19:06:54 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Mar 19, 2020 19:06:54 GMT
Happy Spring!
From NPR: “Perhaps you are mildly surprised to learn that March 19 is the first day of spring. Perhaps you learned as a child that the spring equinox — when day and night are roughly the same length — occurs on either March 20 or March 21.
Indeed, the equinox has historically fallen on one of those dates. This is the first time in 124 years the first day of spring has occurred on March 19 nationwide, irrespective of time zone...”
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 19, 2020 23:31:19 GMT
Who knew?! We just let it slip right by, didn't we?
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Sky Watch
Mar 20, 2020 1:06:03 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Mar 20, 2020 1:06:03 GMT
Not necessarily. It’s tonite after dark. So tomorrow isn’t too late to celebrate!
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 20, 2020 6:08:35 GMT
I would imagine that March 19th is a possible date only during leap years.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 20, 2020 21:44:40 GMT
Since I will always and only associate March 19 with St. Joseph's day*, I thought I'd go ahead & look up what March 20 might be. Oh, how jolly ~ www.un.org/en/observances/happiness-day*St. Joseph's day is rather obviously a replacement for pre-Christian celebrations of Persephone returning to earth after her sojourn underground, aka Winter.
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Post by lugg on Mar 28, 2020 19:11:15 GMT
Indeed, the equinox has historically fallen on one of those dates. This is the first time in 124 years the first day of spring has occurred on March 19 nationwide, irrespective of time zone...” Yes you are correct Kimby - I had no idea . Last night I watched as the Moon , Venus and the ISS were all in view in the sky above me . I took some photos but no idea yet if they are any good / worth posting. But hey ho I enjoyed the moment .
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Sky Watch
Apr 1, 2020 23:28:56 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Apr 1, 2020 23:28:56 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 2, 2020 1:59:45 GMT
This may not be very scientific, but I am going to take that as a good omen!
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Post by Kimby on Apr 3, 2020 3:32:24 GMT
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Post by casimira on Apr 7, 2020 12:49:49 GMT
Full Moon tomorrow 4/8. A Super "Pink" Moon, the largest of the year.
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Sky Watch
Apr 7, 2020 14:26:22 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Apr 7, 2020 14:26:22 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 7, 2020 14:50:49 GMT
Yes, they said this was the best super moon of the year and a good thing to be viewed in confinement if possible. With pollution in decline, even some city folk might be able to appreciate it properly.
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