More on Night Sky

Friday, December 6, 2013

More on Night Sky

Yesterday, Steve Masover, using one of my photos, blogged about Night sky, an enchanting night with beautiful new moon and a shining Venus.

Riding my bike home from work last night I stopped at a light out front of the old UC printing plant in Berkeley, where a construction crew is hard at work building the university's new art museum. Through a chain-link fence, over the roofs of the businesses along Center Street, through the branches of winter-bare trees, the loveliest new moon was settling gently into the fading glow of sunset.

It's funny how you never know when the wonder at being alive in the world will strike.

I didn't have my camera with me, but the resourceful shutterbug Matthew Felix Sun was on it not much later, in the neighborhood where we live:

That's Venus shining on the left.

Needless to say, a photo isn't the same as being there. But don't despair (at least not if you're reading this soon after it was posted)!!

If you're anywhere the sky is clear this evening or tomorrow around sunset, you might want to take a look. Here's what Andrew Fazekas ("the Night Sky Guy") says, from National Geographic:

Starting on Wednesday, December 4, through Friday, December 6, look for the waxing crescent moon to glide past the brilliant, diamond-like planet Venus at dusk. The evening sky show plays out in the low southwestern sky, about 30 minutes after local sunset. The two mismatched worlds will appear closest to each other on Thursday, displaying only 6 degrees of separation, a little more than the width of your three middle fingers held at arm’s length.
Six degrees of separation, indeed. Many thanks to The Management.

Interesting post by Steve and I didn't even know the phenomenal behind this till I read his article. Now, I want to share several more photos I took that night the the following night: