I'm on the digest currently, so if someone else has posted similar information, I apologize for the redundancy. This was sent to me privately by a list member, who can come forward if desired, for now I'm posting it anonymously (thanks!):
I've been away from my desk most of the day, but I just sat down for a few minutes and read your question and Guy's response. I think Guy is still wrong. I am also using Sky Map Pro, v. 7, and I find the following:
Not knowing where the escapees were located at the time, I entered Bern, Switzerland for the location (1 hour ahead of UT) and the date as 14 October, 1918. Jupiter is in Gemini and just rising above the "ideal" horizon at 10:30 local time. However, the Moon, in Aquarius, is still 20 degrees above the horizon. The program gives the phase as 0.679. So, I wonder if the Moon had set from their location and they were able to see from the light of a rising Jupiter, perhaps closer to 11:30 or midnight local time? Saturn wouldn't have risen until about 2:00 local time, but of course Jupiter was much higher by then.
This sounds much better to me, intuitively. Willis does write that the valley was oriented north-south, and the rivers were located at the bottom of gorges, so the eastern and western horizons were probably obstructed. If Saturn didn't rise until 2:00 am, it could not have been the planet in question. Some small towns passed that night were listed as: Dittishausen, Rotenbach, and Loffingen. We have scant information on the weather; perhaps the moon was obscured by clouds if not terrain. Willis states that the sun did shine during that day, apparently for most of the day as he writes of shadows moving while they were hiding in a pine thicket during daylight hours, and luxuriating in it's warmth. Of the night of the escape itself, (the night before the planet notation), he wrote: "A thin layer of clouds over the stars produced a dim, luminous light everywhere, and the way across country we had so carefully memorized on our walks was easy to follow." So it seems that Jupiter is now the best candidate. It would certainly throw more light on the countryside than Saturn. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com