Daytime Moon and Zodiacal Light

Wife: Whatcha up to?

Me: Looking at a daytime crescent Moon...just above that tree over there..see it?

Wife: .......No.

Me: Okay, look at the top of that pine over there and then a little to the left...see it?

Wife: .......No.

Me: Alright watch where I'm pointing, the Moon is sitting on top of my finger....see it?

Wife: .........If I say yes will you stop?



This conversation actually took place, the daytime crescent Moon can be a hard target to find but boy is it worth it, looks so majestic in the daytime.



If you're interested you can go here to see the current phase of the Moon and go here to find out where it is. I eventually set up the telescope and took some images for her to see later, which I don't think she did, but hey if she reads the post she will.


Just a reminder, in the early morning hours of this coming Thursday the Moon and Pleiades will be in conjunction, but you can enjoy the coupling late Wednesday evening, just grab some binocs, find the Moon then just off to the left will be the Pleiades, granted you won't have me to point them out to you but you should be good to go on your own.

Zodiacal Light ..credit The Worlds Of David Darling

Mark September 16th. on your calender for an awesome showing of the Slim Crescent Moon, Venus, and...and, the Zodiacal Light, triple whammy. The Zodiacal light will be putting on quite the show for a few days beyond the 16th., until the Moon gets brighter and takes away it's cool soft glow.

First you have to get up a couple hours before Sunrise, leave the glare of the city lights, and look to the east. You will see a faint triangle of light rising up from the horizon, very beautiful. The Zodiacal light is the result of Sunlight reflecting off dust particles left behind by comets and collisions between asteroids, best seen the beginning of fall before Sunrise in the east and spring after Sunset in the west. You may or may not know that the Zodiacal light is responsible for 60% of the skylight on a moonless night.

I'll leave you now with an animation of a Sunset I took a week ago.