Planets aligned tonight

alaskaflyer

alaskaflyer

Final Approach
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Alaskaflyer
Last night we had a spectacular view of the moon, Jupiter, and Venus in a clear sky over the eastern Sierras. Tonight they will be in a tighter triangle, but I will be back in Alaska where clouds are predicted :frown3:
 
They say "partly cloudy" here tonight. Depending on how "partly" that is, I might drive out to the airport, which is the only dark & open place I know of where I can be sure I'm not going to get chased out of.
 
yea i saw them just after sunset last week sometime. very neat. hopefully it will clear up here tonight.
 
I took my daughter and her college roommate up on a flight on Friday just after sunset. Those planets were so bright I thought they were landing lights! Beautiful!
 
Lookin' good tonight. If it's clear again tomorrow night I might bust out the Tasco and brave Newarks's polluted sky for a gander at Jupiter and Venus. Amazing how bright Venus is, esp. with that "fingernail" Moon!
 
Venus will continue to close with Jupiter as Venus moves closer to maximum elongation. It will also brighten a bit more.
 
We pulled out the MIL's Meade reflector scope on Saturday down in Ft. Lauderdale to have a look. Saw Jupiter's moons.
 
tonycondon said:
had an excellent view of it tonight.
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Here too. Pretty amazing to gaze upon celeteral bodies in our solar system. Gives you a chance to ponder the universe. It is amazing to me how arrogant man is. We still don't know what causes gravity, but yet we are sure we can affect the planet's weather.
 
I'll be flying Anchorage to Fairbanks, and back, in a few hours. Hope to get a good look from FL 320!
 
it was amazing... I tried to call my wife at work, but she'd already left... when I hung up after leaving a message (in case she was still around there somewhere) I had a message on the home phone "Tom, I'm standing in the parking lot and looking at the moon... it's right there with those two planets we've been seeing - you ought to go outside and look at it!" :D
 
nddons said:
I took my daughter and her college roommate up on a flight on Friday just after sunset. Those planets were so bright I thought they were landing lights! Beautiful!
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I've heard that folks in wwII used to shoot at Jupiter, it was so bright they thought it was a plane... might be apocryphal, might not! :)
 
I saw them last night when I was driving. At first I thought they were two airplanes... but then they didn't move.
 
Tell me if jokes about the 7th planet are not allowed, I am busting to post one.
 
better to go ahead and then ask forgiveness than ask permission ahead of time...
 
Toward the end of our IFR flight Saturday night, they were brighter than any ground light headed back into Austin.
 
Saw the triangle tonight - wished I was up at 6Y9 in pitch dark!
 
etsisk said:
I've heard that folks in wwII used to shoot at Jupiter, it was so bright they thought it was a plane... might be apocryphal, might not! :)
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Once while sailing east of Hawaii I manuvered to avoid a bright light. Nothing on radar but the light was very bright and smack dab on the horizon. Through auto kinesis I was convinced we were imminent for collision. It was a planet, Mars I think.

On a flight on a lonely night along the west side of the Sierra Nevada I sharply manuvered to avoid a red and white light. Given the ragged skyline of the mtn peaks and patchy mtn fog and smoke from a distant wildfire...plus that just before I heard a turboprop report on freq that they were inbound from that direction, I was absolutely certain I was about to have a mid-air collsion...with the rising quarter moon.
 
Been watching those two for weeks now. We live in a small town some distance from any major cities and can see that sort of thing anytime. I could even pick out the Milky Way the other night right from my driveway in town. If we go camping in the Rockies a couple of hours away and go outside the tent in the middle of a moonless night, the sky is absolutely white with stars and there's no lack of light. There must be millions of city dwellers who never see anything like that in their lifetimes.

Being a country hick has its advantages...

Dan
 
Dan Thomas said:
There must be millions of city dwellers who never see anything like that in their lifetimes.\
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Its getting worse but doesn't have to be like that! Become Light Fixture Aware! Read about the IDSA!
http://www.darksky.org/mc/page.do

We do not need outdoor lamps that project upward in 99.9% of cases as most do! We WASTE millions of $$$ each year pointing lights upwards when we could reduce power use by well designed shields that reflect light onto the ground.

Dark Skies initiatives Do Not Take Away your night-time light....they just
redirect skyward lamps onto the ground, where you need it.
 
had a nice view again tonight on a charter in the 421. last chance for a few days, more snow is on the way...
 
I've been noticing this for a few days now. Now I know what it is!! :)
 
"When the moon is in the serpent's house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars..."
 
This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, Age of Aquarius, Aquarius! Aquarius! Aquarius!
Harmony and understanding!
(Oops, might start to get into politics here! :))
 
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