PHASES OF THE MOON
Turns out
that stargazing is pretty much a haphazard activity involving patience and
luck. Oh sure the night is always there following the day, and anyone can step
outdoors and peer up at the heavens, no matter where you are, but there’s no
guarantee you’ll see much of anything. There will be a couple of planets, a
constellation or two and the moon. But, it won’t be dark enough to really see
the night sky.
There are
a lot of factors that impact stargazing, firstly the disruption of the Circadian
Rhythm of humans who like to sleep when it’s dark. Then there’s weather and
clouds that impact the clarity of the night sky and then there’s the moon. As
the moon waxes and wanes its light increases from a new moon, reflecting none
of the sun to a full moon and then decreases or wanes towards a new moon again
to begin the cycle anew.
CARPE NOCTEM
So, these
factors impact the casual stargazer who may not have the foresight or
intelligence to consider the cycles of the moon, or the weather or the
necessity to get out there in the middle of the night to truly experience the
night. Yes, timing is everything and even if you properly plan there still is a
lot of luck involved. Even the Dark Sky Park of Cherry Springs State Park in
Pennsylvania which is the best place on the East coast for stargazing there’s
just 60 to 80 nights of optimum viewing per year. It’s not a light switch you
can flick on.
If we had
planned this trip last week it would have been perfecting timing. The new moon
this month was July 13th and today, July 24th the Waxing Gibbous
should finally set around 3 am. We could have dealt with that, except that it’s
pouring. Even if we wanted to get out there and wait and hope for the skies to
reveal all their stars the rains are drenching us. Last week we were blessed with beautiful clear weather.
What’s
especially sad is that on Friday, July 27th, the day we return home,
there will be a full lunar eclipse that will be the longest in the 21st
Century. It will last approximately 103 minutes! We will miss it here at Cherry
Springs State Park, but perhaps we’ll see it at home?
CARPE BEER
Timing is
everything. It’s time to get a beer at the Crittenden Hotel.
 |
| from Wikipedia |
No comments:
Post a Comment