Loved reading this Chuck! Enjoy your evening together! --- On Fri, 12/9/11, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote:
From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Back-yard naked-eye astronomy To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Friday, December 9, 2011, 6:28 PM Taking a break from the shop for a few minutes, I took my Irish whiskey and water outside for a peek at the sky.
The full moon is rising rapidly in the north-east. The night's main event is drawing ever closer!
With due respect to those who marginalize a lunar eclipse who's full extent isn't quite visible from our locale, I can't wait. I've taken a full three days off for my surgery (the first time in months that I've had more than ONE day off in a two-week period) and I plan on seeing whatever I can from my admittedly light-polluted back yard in the middle of the Salt Lake valley.
Venus lies low in the southwest, a brilliant beacon in the twilight, as sunset fades. I recall nights as a kid growing up on the east side of Salt Lake, riding my bike on summer nights around the UofU district, and seeing Venus in a similar postion up until nearly ten PM. Venus is an old friend. Jupiter shines halfway up in the east-southeast, almost as bright as Venus. It must be a HUGE planet to shine so bright, some 440 million miles from the sun. Were it a bit more massive, it could have become a 'brown dwarf', and then who knows what our night sky would have looked like, from a darkness perspective, had it been so. The King of Planets is another old friend, whom I'm glad to re-connect with from time-to-time. Carry-on, your Majesty.
Jupiter is the very first object I can remember locating in a telescope all by myself, back in the late '60's. Even before the moon. I remember the awe I experienced as I saw the bands and belts, the moons astride the huge planet- and the exhaulted Great Red Spot! What a wonderful long-term memory to hang onto, even if I lose my short-term memory as human aging advances and takes it's toll on cerebral treasures.
Jupiter is sometimes called the "Amateur's Planet". So be it. I started as an amateur, and I will end my life as one. There is no shame. Jupiter is amazing, as a system unto itself and even as a naked-eye object. I am eternally grateful for Jupiter. The wonder in the eyepiece never ends.
The full moon dominates the celestial dome this early December evening. The wondrous specatcle that is a Lunar Eclipse is just hours away!
Well, there is chicken to brown and a casserole to fabricate, awaiting me in the kitchen. My GF worked hard today, long hours at an unsatisfying job, and I am happy to prepare supper for her and I, while she dozes angelically on the sofa, the big plasma TV acting as both lullaby and white noise, erasing her cares accumulated during the workday. Thank You, Philo T. Farnsworth.
The moon (and Jupiter) will still be there in a few hours.
:-)
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