As promised last week (“Vertical Moon” at: https://eskildoodle.com/2023/04/16/vertical-moon/ ), the evening crescent Moon is grinning once again. Just a week ago it appeared nearly vertical as it approached the Sun in the morning sky, but now it appears to lay nearly horizontal like the Cheshire Cat’s grin. The astronomical explanation for this is related toContinue reading “Grinning Again”
Tag Archives: Moon
Vertical Moon
Sometimes the crescent Moon resembles a wide Cheshire grin, nearly horizontal to the horizon, while other times, like the one in the photo, it appears almost vertical, like a partial parenthesis, due to the inclination of the Moon’s orbit. This week it will continue with its vertical appearance as it heads towards the rising sunContinue reading “Vertical Moon”
Meteor-right
This space capsule went where Apollo 13 failed to go, the highlands around the lunar crater of Fra Mauro. After that it repeated what Apollo 13 did accomplish well, it brought its three astronauts home with a meteoric ride through the atmosphere to a safe landing in the ocean. Aboard this space craft were AlanContinue reading “Meteor-right”
Full Dawn
Faint dawn twilight began to brighten the bedroom as I rolled over to snooze just a few minutes more. “Don’t they pick up yard waste today?” said a distant voice that somehow crept into my consciousness. Oooohhh! Yep, I had to get up and get the containers to the street before they came to pickContinue reading “Full Dawn”
Ecliptic Essence
Since last night the Moon has passed by Venus and risen to side of Jupiter. In doing so it has followed the ecliptic, which is the orbital plane of the solar system and courses through the constellations of the zodiac. The ecliptic follows the plane of the protoplanetary disk from which the whole solar systemContinue reading “Ecliptic Essence”
Smiley Moon and Planets
As promised in yesterday’s post, the Moon obligingly appeared at sunset last night. Tonight, it will be up above Jupiter at the top of the image. Wow, what an amazing apparition of our solar siblings! #jupiter #venus #moon #sunset
Dusk Delight
For the next several days Jupiter (upper) will approach Venus (lower) until they appear as close together as the width of a full Moon on the evening of March 1, 2023. Speaking of the Moon, its thin crescent shape will pass by the planets tonight, February 21, 2023, and tomorrow night. So if you wantContinue reading “Dusk Delight”
Glib Gibbous Moon
It hovered in the morning sky, the Man on the Moon seeming to grin down towards Earth just as it was about to set. The Moon was full just two days before but still looks nearly round in its gibbous phase, the phase between full and quarter. Maybe it has a secret that it wouldContinue reading “Glib Gibbous Moon”
Near and Far
The Moon is less than a third of the diameter of Venus, yet it appeares much larger since it was only 224 thousand miles away while Venus was over 142 million miles away at the time of the photo. The Moon is at crescent phase since it is sunward from Earth, while Venus is atContinue reading “Near and Far”
Near Miss
The Moon nearly grazed Mars last night and I took this photo using my telescope and iPhone. In the central and western US the Moon passed in front of Mars, hiding it from view for a time, but in Florida this is as close as they got. Tiny red Mars is below the mountainous areaContinue reading “Near Miss”
Eskildoodle Photos and Feelings 