Morning Moons

This morning's last quarter moon, Wed Oct 31, (at bottom) compared to yesterday's slightly more lit moon (first photo). Same exposure (1/1600 sec, f7.1, ISO800 Canon XS with 250mm zoom lens), cropped to same size. Can you see the Apennines Mountains extending like a line into the dark portion of the moon in today's photo? …

Moon Morning Photos

Two shots with the Canon XS and my trusty zoom telephoto lens.  More pictures - through the telescope - will be added to this entry later. Second photo is moon in blue sky after sunrise.  I love how beautiful the moon is in a blue sky.  When I see it, I feel like saying 'what …

Moon Morning

Tuesday and Wednesday morning, take a look overhead as you get outside (or up through an inside skylight) first thing in the morning and see the last quarter moon almost overhead.  Our Moon will be shining brightly, even after the sun comes up. The last quarter moon is always special.  It is the direction the …

Monday, moon-day star party

Thank you to the students and parents who came to the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Star Party last night! About forty students and many of their parents came to see the stars Monday evening.  We had to look around (and through) some clouds, but skies cleared a bit as the evening went on before …

What is pressure?

What is pressure? Hurricane predictions and storm warnings talk about pressure. What do those numbers mean? Pressure in our atmosphere is the weight of all the air in the atmosphere above us.  If you go higher in the atmosphere, there is less atmosphere above you (think mile-high Denver’s famously lower air pressure). When I did …

Mars and the Moon Dance

Look for Mars to the right of the Moon tonight (Thursday, October 18th)! Last night Mars was to the left of the Moon. The Moon has moved, not Mars. Simulations from Solar System Simulator.  

Cold Front to End Tropical Moisture Flow for Now

Update 5pm Fri Oct 12: Go to Capitol Weather Gang's post and scroll down to a comparison of temperature anomalies observed for the first ten days of October and the forecast jet stream with the implied overall temperature anomalies for the last final third of October.  It shows the dramatic pattern change very well and …

Windows into data from a disaster

As Hurricane Michael comes ashore in the Florida panhandle, some data are still coming to us from the area affected by extreme winds and water rises. Tyndall Air Force Base is reporting sustained winds of 86 miles per hour gusting to 129 mph.  Here's a direct link to the incoming data.  They are right in …

Michael to slam Gulf Coast, add moisture to soggy northeastern USA

Hurricane Michael Landfall on Wednesday, moving quickly to off the middle Atlantic coast.  Watch out for storm surge (including 2 to 4 feet in the Tampa Bay area!) No map here, since the storm is rapidly moving and the forecast is old fast. Here's the link to Advisories for Michael:  https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at4.shtml?cone#contents Northeastern USA Weather Low …

Heads UP! for October 2018

Click on the links in the text to get more information! More on this moon phase, below. Mars is left as best and brightest of the easily accessible planets in the evening October sky.  Its brightness drops rapidly through magnitude minus 1.0 at mid-month and it looks 25 percent smaller by month’s end. Since 12 …