Sky was clear enough to lure me to the shoreline tonight. Time to say goodbye to the Dimm-ed Messenger Mercury for another year:
It is magnitude +0.51 and the light curve is not at all like planet Venus. I might try and calculate it, but it is quite fierce mathematics, involving double inverses and hemispherical reflection I suspect.
Caught a glimpse of Europa too, along with easy dark Callisto and Ganymede, and think it is doable on another date. Ganymede is bigger than Mercury.
Mars has moved quite a lot in 10 days in Gemini:
From Isosceles to Pythagorean.
Is right angle Pi/2 transcendental? My gut says it is.
Not many people know that (e ^ Pi) - Pi is almost exactly 20. Strange but TRUE.
It is magnitude +0.51 and the light curve is not at all like planet Venus. I might try and calculate it, but it is quite fierce mathematics, involving double inverses and hemispherical reflection I suspect.
Caught a glimpse of Europa too, along with easy dark Callisto and Ganymede, and think it is doable on another date. Ganymede is bigger than Mercury.
Mars has moved quite a lot in 10 days in Gemini:
From Isosceles to Pythagorean.
Is right angle Pi/2 transcendental? My gut says it is.
Not many people know that (e ^ Pi) - Pi is almost exactly 20. Strange but TRUE.
Today, 14th. March 2025 we have the slightly less than perfect UK eclipse of the Moon. You saw it here first.
5.30 AM and Frosty. Nikon D3200 75mm eff. f5.6, ISO 100, 1/100th second low in the West.
I think this is called the Sunny 16 rule of exposure. f5.6 is the setting for a very cloudy day. f8 would be about right for a regular full Moon.
Being, to my reasoning, because the Moon is very dark indeed in reality. About a mere 7% Albedo, whereas a greyscale card is 25%.
5.45 AM and more orangey:
At which point it disappeared below the rooftops. One of my neighbours was walking her dog.
I explained it is not a crescent Moon, but a Heavenly wonder. "Ooh!" she said.
I have also resolved the matter of Mercury's brightness curve, and it has many factors at work:
https://theskylive.com/mercury-info
Whilst Venus is always between -4.7 and -3.8 except when near transit, Mercury is currently heading into the faintness of +6.0 as it heads in front of the Sun.
It is actually at its brightest around -2.0 when behind the Sun and hence usually then unobservable.
5.30 AM and Frosty. Nikon D3200 75mm eff. f5.6, ISO 100, 1/100th second low in the West.
I think this is called the Sunny 16 rule of exposure. f5.6 is the setting for a very cloudy day. f8 would be about right for a regular full Moon.
Being, to my reasoning, because the Moon is very dark indeed in reality. About a mere 7% Albedo, whereas a greyscale card is 25%.
5.45 AM and more orangey:
At which point it disappeared below the rooftops. One of my neighbours was walking her dog.
I explained it is not a crescent Moon, but a Heavenly wonder. "Ooh!" she said.
I have also resolved the matter of Mercury's brightness curve, and it has many factors at work:
https://theskylive.com/mercury-info
Whilst Venus is always between -4.7 and -3.8 except when near transit, Mercury is currently heading into the faintness of +6.0 as it heads in front of the Sun.
It is actually at its brightest around -2.0 when behind the Sun and hence usually then unobservable.
Last edited:
The local weather NBC station predicted a total eclipse of the moon in Louisville from 02:36 to 03:31.
I saw a small dot of white on the North boundary (the top), as late as 02:45, then again about 03:15. Perhaps the total eclipse was at the airport weather station, 10 miles south of me.
I saw a small dot of white on the North boundary (the top), as late as 02:45, then again about 03:15. Perhaps the total eclipse was at the airport weather station, 10 miles south of me.
Last edited:
I fear you may not be cut out for a career in Astronomy, Mr. Indianajo. Looking for the Moon when it is eclipsed seems the height of foolishness to me. And especially looking North. Did not your skies also darken last April? Kentucky seems cursed.
This might have worked in Santiago, Chile however, where I am surprised to learn, the Moon is upside down.:
What does this all mean? I found this helpful comment on another Sky News feed, unfortunately several hours long, and thus beyond even my patience and attention span:
And there we should leave it. We are, after all, scientists. 🙂
This might have worked in Santiago, Chile however, where I am surprised to learn, the Moon is upside down.:
What does this all mean? I found this helpful comment on another Sky News feed, unfortunately several hours long, and thus beyond even my patience and attention span:
And there we should leave it. We are, after all, scientists. 🙂
Actually I watched at 1300, 1330 for the shadow to start eating the light. It started about 1400, Sat out there in the cold from about 1415 until shadow reached max at 14:36 just as the weatherman said. My point was that the predicted total eclipse, was not. One dot of white was left.
My night vision is good enough to see the mares (dark spots) through the red. Europeans probably would have to use a time exposure on their camera to see mare under the red. Was comparing experiences with a 7/8 native at the Lewis & Clark 200th anniversary re-enactment, about non-natives having to use flashlights to walk around at night if there is no moon. At ROTC camp my platoon made me point man to lead them to the rescue point on the nighttime excape and evasion course. They had noticed I could find the latrine without a flashlight.
Last edited:
According to my local sources, this totality occurred at 02.26 to 03.31 AM EDT. So some confusion of timezones perhaps?
I was going to launch into a ramble about Lewis and Clark, because it is possible to calculate longitude by lunar eclipses to within about 10 miles.
And this they apparently did when mapping theGreat American Landgrab Louisiana Purchase for The Great White Chief Thomas Jefferson in 1804.
A thrilling adventure. I was gripped. I always thought the natives got a bad deal actually. Whisky, Guns and Debt. But it was a different time.
I was going to launch into a ramble about Lewis and Clark, because it is possible to calculate longitude by lunar eclipses to within about 10 miles.
And this they apparently did when mapping the
A thrilling adventure. I was gripped. I always thought the natives got a bad deal actually. Whisky, Guns and Debt. But it was a different time.
I think instead longitude was calculated from the orbits of the moons of Jupiter. Told you what time and day it was, then you measure the moon position to get longitude. Based on tables of extensive observations from the UK Royal Observatory.
I have to say going to work for a salary and paying modest taxes is a much better deal than fighting for your land all the time. Look at the natives at Plymouth Rock, anxious to win allies in their war against other natives. Shawnee trails (US 250) were maintained in WV so the tall dominant tribe from Ohio could ride through on horses and steal women. My native ancestors could have hid out in the woods of WV forever, nobody was interested in the mountain tops. Instead they chose to move about 1895 into company houses and dig low coal, for a chance to eat Spam from the company store. Cotton clothes were so luxurious! They could have continued to eat venison, ground hog, roots, and acorns and lived in huts of sticks and leaves until the draft board got them in 1918.
Last edited:
I never really bought the Jupiter's Moons idea. You'd need a pretty good telescope to see a moon come out of eclipse against Jupiter's brightness.
Can't imagine Lewis and Clark being that well equipped. Especially operating in the early stages of Medicinal Mercury poisoning... 🙁
I was puzzling over the diagram I found for 05.10 AM GMT or UTC in Portsmouth, or 01.10 AM EDT in Louisville:
And what I saw at f8:
And here's the totality posted on the Internet, which is not different from what you saw with your "eyes that see in the dark".
You follow?
See, the shadow is not a sharp line at all. The Sun is half a degree across, and the Earth is 2 degrees across from the Moon, so it blurs.
That's my theory. 😎
Well, OK, it might be atmospheric diffraction too. 😀
Can't imagine Lewis and Clark being that well equipped. Especially operating in the early stages of Medicinal Mercury poisoning... 🙁
I was puzzling over the diagram I found for 05.10 AM GMT or UTC in Portsmouth, or 01.10 AM EDT in Louisville:
And what I saw at f8:
And here's the totality posted on the Internet, which is not different from what you saw with your "eyes that see in the dark".
You follow?
See, the shadow is not a sharp line at all. The Sun is half a degree across, and the Earth is 2 degrees across from the Moon, so it blurs.
That's my theory. 😎
Well, OK, it might be atmospheric diffraction too. 😀
Last edited:
After such serious Astronomical musings, I can share some childhood memories of Native American influences in our impressionable family in Stratford Upon Avon.
On rainy days we would read the Reader's Digest Junior Treasury of 1960:
And a story you reminded me of, and I still remember about "the aborigines of Australia - the primative chocolate-coloured people" with "The Eyes Nothing can Escape".
Perhaps this phrasing reflects the values of the time? 🙄
My sister took the whole Native American thing on board, being convinced she was Hiawatha:
My brother liked dressing up as a cowboy. We were only children. 😀
On rainy days we would read the Reader's Digest Junior Treasury of 1960:
And a story you reminded me of, and I still remember about "the aborigines of Australia - the primative chocolate-coloured people" with "The Eyes Nothing can Escape".
Perhaps this phrasing reflects the values of the time? 🙄
My sister took the whole Native American thing on board, being convinced she was Hiawatha:
My brother liked dressing up as a cowboy. We were only children. 😀
Being a child of the fifties, I spent a lot of time playing with a cap gun, hiding under tipped over lawn chairs, shooting at imaginary Indians. Roy Rogers was my TV hero.
Is not until the 5th time I was diagnosed with measles, and tested positive with a culture by the Army hospital, that I realized how different I was. Reading about the epidemics among the Nez Pierce of 1820 etc, I realized I was at least partially Indian (native Am). I am very fortunate to live in an era where vaccines are recommended and cheap. My native looking grandfather died of a bad cold (respiratory disease) age 42.
Going through the 70's when a man could not get a date without a full and rampant beard, it became painfully obvious that a man without beard mustache or body hair was obsolete. I was pleased to see on TV a woman that looked like my Mother, who was Miss Lumbee Powwow 2016. I visited the Lumbee Powwow in 2019, and pleased to see a number of people that look like me. I don't look like the natives out west, but do look some like these East Coast natives. I met no physicists or engineers there. I was lucky to get a great education in Houston. My native looking grandfather was forced out of school in the 6th grade to dig coal.
Is not until the 5th time I was diagnosed with measles, and tested positive with a culture by the Army hospital, that I realized how different I was. Reading about the epidemics among the Nez Pierce of 1820 etc, I realized I was at least partially Indian (native Am). I am very fortunate to live in an era where vaccines are recommended and cheap. My native looking grandfather died of a bad cold (respiratory disease) age 42.
Going through the 70's when a man could not get a date without a full and rampant beard, it became painfully obvious that a man without beard mustache or body hair was obsolete. I was pleased to see on TV a woman that looked like my Mother, who was Miss Lumbee Powwow 2016. I visited the Lumbee Powwow in 2019, and pleased to see a number of people that look like me. I don't look like the natives out west, but do look some like these East Coast natives. I met no physicists or engineers there. I was lucky to get a great education in Houston. My native looking grandfather was forced out of school in the 6th grade to dig coal.
I have been puzzling over the woeful nature of these much-vaunted LED lightbulbs that ABSOLUTELY RUIN my stargazing experience:
Here is the view towards the awful swamp of nearby Gosport, a place that Portsmouthians would happily see disappear under the waves of Global warming. It has no soul, no beating heart.
What is that terrible glaring light pollution we see, far worse than our own tolerable warm-white lamposts? Not the MOD, AFAIK. Not a football pitch. I should investigate one day with a ferry ride, but hate the place.
I have found the explanation, and it is related to the terrible blue-dominated LED light from phosphored Blue LEDs, which are far worse than the spectrum typical of good old tungsten bulbs.
It is why we all hate shop lighting. And hardly better in our homes.
The problem is the GREEN GAP! I learned this from genius mathematician Terence Tao, who is interested in most everything.
A sensible LED lightbulb would have Red, Green and Blue LED elements. But you see it is currently impossible to get the green/Yellow part above 20% efficiency.
There is a huge prize awaiting the person who solves this green gap problem, and the World and my reading lamp will be better for it. 🙂
Here is the view towards the awful swamp of nearby Gosport, a place that Portsmouthians would happily see disappear under the waves of Global warming. It has no soul, no beating heart.
What is that terrible glaring light pollution we see, far worse than our own tolerable warm-white lamposts? Not the MOD, AFAIK. Not a football pitch. I should investigate one day with a ferry ride, but hate the place.
I have found the explanation, and it is related to the terrible blue-dominated LED light from phosphored Blue LEDs, which are far worse than the spectrum typical of good old tungsten bulbs.
It is why we all hate shop lighting. And hardly better in our homes.
The problem is the GREEN GAP! I learned this from genius mathematician Terence Tao, who is interested in most everything.
A sensible LED lightbulb would have Red, Green and Blue LED elements. But you see it is currently impossible to get the green/Yellow part above 20% efficiency.
There is a huge prize awaiting the person who solves this green gap problem, and the World and my reading lamp will be better for it. 🙂
I still have a city owned mercury vapor light at the front of my yard in town. In back of the house where I observed the moon 2 nights ago, that is shaded by the house. South there a string of orange LED party lights on a trestle next door 30 m away.
At my country house, if I can climb the pole and unwire the mercury vapor light installed a previous owner, I would have no lighting for a half mile. To the north there is an Amish property with no lights at all to the hill crest. Unfortunately my yard light is wired parallel to the 5 car garage. As the pole is half rotted through at the base, a simpler but more expensive solution would be to have trenches dug 50 m and install 10 g underground wire.
At my country house, if I can climb the pole and unwire the mercury vapor light installed a previous owner, I would have no lighting for a half mile. To the north there is an Amish property with no lights at all to the hill crest. Unfortunately my yard light is wired parallel to the 5 car garage. As the pole is half rotted through at the base, a simpler but more expensive solution would be to have trenches dug 50 m and install 10 g underground wire.
I was intrigued by your last post, @indianajo. It almost spoke to me in poetry rather than prose... perhaps Japanese Haiku, the Bard's Iambic Pentameter or even Navajo!
The muse took me to rearrange it a bit whilst keeping the gist. 😎
MOON SPIRIT by indianajo.
I think it works, and hope you like it. 🙂
But be careful. With no warning light you make yourself vulnerable to Velociraptors.
I am wary of leaving my window open at night. And SO SHOULD YOU BE.
They are only 100 miles along the road from Jeffersonville, Indiana:
I don't make this up.
The muse took me to rearrange it a bit whilst keeping the gist. 😎
MOON SPIRIT by indianajo.
I think it works, and hope you like it. 🙂
But be careful. With no warning light you make yourself vulnerable to Velociraptors.
I am wary of leaving my window open at night. And SO SHOULD YOU BE.
They are only 100 miles along the road from Jeffersonville, Indiana:
I don't make this up.
Last edited:
Ha, Ha! You can be my editor, anytime!
I'm writing the history of my family, part of which was told by my parents and part made up from histories & observations. An Eastern, instead of a Western. There are murders, shootings, beatings, a broken neck, dead German soldiers, a miner's war, gas & germ warfare, hard work, pig & deer butchery, courtship. At the end of every chapter an ancestor is born.
As far as predators, I am more worried by copper wire thieves than velociraptors. Theives destroyed the interior of the community center 1/4 mile from my property, an old school. They were caught selling a bulldozer to the scrapyard. But as the person that signed the receipt was age 15, he did no jail time.
I tried to buy a bank drive-thru window on ebay, but I was outbid. One window on the country house is 3 lites wide. The singles I can cover with 1/2" polycarbonate from the industrial supply.
I'm writing the history of my family, part of which was told by my parents and part made up from histories & observations. An Eastern, instead of a Western. There are murders, shootings, beatings, a broken neck, dead German soldiers, a miner's war, gas & germ warfare, hard work, pig & deer butchery, courtship. At the end of every chapter an ancestor is born.
As far as predators, I am more worried by copper wire thieves than velociraptors. Theives destroyed the interior of the community center 1/4 mile from my property, an old school. They were caught selling a bulldozer to the scrapyard. But as the person that signed the receipt was age 15, he did no jail time.
I tried to buy a bank drive-thru window on ebay, but I was outbid. One window on the country house is 3 lites wide. The singles I can cover with 1/2" polycarbonate from the industrial supply.
Last edited:
I usually edit my online efforts, after perusing them, there is no shame in it. Most of my Worldview is Noir, which accords with my bleak and cynical view of life.
Actually Elmore Leonard was about as readable as it gets, and works on the big screen too. His 10 Rules of writing:
https://fs.blog/elmore-leonard-10-rules-of-writing/
It is why Dashell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon) is unreadable now, Too much description... and you need that moment when it all becomes real, otherwise it just rides off into the sunset, leaving you feeling "What was that about?", where is the redemption?
I don't know if you have ever watched "The Effect of Gamma Ray Radiation on Man in the Moon Marigolds" at youtube. But the little girl stays focussed on her Science in a hugely dysfunctional broken family, and some of her schoolmates are hideous too.. A minor gem.
Then look at this Dinosaur business that I KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT. And, be warned, it always dangerous to promote rubbish on things I know about
Joe wants to be a Scientist. He finds 130 Million year old fleeting Dinosaur footprints on this rapidly eroding beach on the Isle of Wight, which I have wandered myself. The cliffs are just soil really, and erosion is an ongoing thing there. Most of the coastal railway line has already been washed away.
At low tide in the Solent you can see near fossilised tree stumps too. We had a holiday there once, but the cottage has fallen into the sea.
Dinosaurs recreated at the nearby shameless tourist attraction of Blackgang Chine at the southern tip which is also ever shrinking:
Now here's my rant bit. You can guess I would have very little time for these smug and plain annoying Creationists who believe the Earth is 10,000 years old, along with having some much more disturbing views on other societal matters.
They are so full of it. Agenda written large.
Actually Elmore Leonard was about as readable as it gets, and works on the big screen too. His 10 Rules of writing:
https://fs.blog/elmore-leonard-10-rules-of-writing/
It is why Dashell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon) is unreadable now, Too much description... and you need that moment when it all becomes real, otherwise it just rides off into the sunset, leaving you feeling "What was that about?", where is the redemption?
I don't know if you have ever watched "The Effect of Gamma Ray Radiation on Man in the Moon Marigolds" at youtube. But the little girl stays focussed on her Science in a hugely dysfunctional broken family, and some of her schoolmates are hideous too.. A minor gem.
Then look at this Dinosaur business that I KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT. And, be warned, it always dangerous to promote rubbish on things I know about
Joe wants to be a Scientist. He finds 130 Million year old fleeting Dinosaur footprints on this rapidly eroding beach on the Isle of Wight, which I have wandered myself. The cliffs are just soil really, and erosion is an ongoing thing there. Most of the coastal railway line has already been washed away.
At low tide in the Solent you can see near fossilised tree stumps too. We had a holiday there once, but the cottage has fallen into the sea.
Dinosaurs recreated at the nearby shameless tourist attraction of Blackgang Chine at the southern tip which is also ever shrinking:
Now here's my rant bit. You can guess I would have very little time for these smug and plain annoying Creationists who believe the Earth is 10,000 years old, along with having some much more disturbing views on other societal matters.
They are so full of it. Agenda written large.
Actually I found the last Dashiell Hammett book I did not own last month. The Continental Operator. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was at Goodwill in Killeen Texas, which had a much better but smaller selection than the resale shope in my county.
I love description, and imagine the scenes the author describes. I am not so good at imagining the faces.
Crazy Rich Asians was at the same store. That reminded me of the rich kids at the Junior High School I was bussed to across US 90, the Memorial side. They loved destroying stuff and creating chaos.
I had to give up on the Maltese Falcon. It was SO slow and ponderous, and there was nobody to like except Sam Spade's world-weary office secretary.
John Grisham also employs the streetwise secretary and the adopted office dog a lot in his amusing books about gutter law firms.
Apropos our mutual interest in Noir however, my central library has this John Connolly work about crime writing in general:
https://www.johnconnollybooks.com/other-books/books-to-die-for
And the Southsea library has, joy of joy, a new Charlie Parker supernatural detective book in the endless series.
Angel and Louis, and the enormous and dangerous thuggish Fulci Brothers he hires for protection are immortal creations IMO.
There's a thin line between pulp and worthiness. But you know it when you cross it.
https://salmongutter.blogspot.com/
It's whether you actually care about the characters, or hope that most of them get shot in the first reel.
Nobody is gonna steal her dingey bedside lamp, that's for sure. But I haven't read it yet.
I know a girl who keeps a lump-hammer by her bed, ostensibly for nightprowlers. I was so outta there, because she also had a very bad temper and I just knew how it was gonna end. Badly.
Were we talking about anything Science related? I have forgotten. The floor is anyone's.
John Grisham also employs the streetwise secretary and the adopted office dog a lot in his amusing books about gutter law firms.
Apropos our mutual interest in Noir however, my central library has this John Connolly work about crime writing in general:
https://www.johnconnollybooks.com/other-books/books-to-die-for
And the Southsea library has, joy of joy, a new Charlie Parker supernatural detective book in the endless series.
Angel and Louis, and the enormous and dangerous thuggish Fulci Brothers he hires for protection are immortal creations IMO.
There's a thin line between pulp and worthiness. But you know it when you cross it.
https://salmongutter.blogspot.com/
It's whether you actually care about the characters, or hope that most of them get shot in the first reel.
Nobody is gonna steal her dingey bedside lamp, that's for sure. But I haven't read it yet.
I know a girl who keeps a lump-hammer by her bed, ostensibly for nightprowlers. I was so outta there, because she also had a very bad temper and I just knew how it was gonna end. Badly.
Were we talking about anything Science related? I have forgotten. The floor is anyone's.
Last edited:
Hey, maybe I should have persevered with this book? I didn't know Sam Spade checked for concealed lump-hammers ( He had had a bad experience with them previously...) and whatnot before letting dames into his apartment...
"Is that everything?" said Spade.
"Well, yes... nearly.... apart from my Derringer! MWHAHAHA!"
https://salmongutter.blogspot.com/search/label/Dashiell Hammett
"Is that everything?" said Spade.
"Well, yes... nearly.... apart from my Derringer! MWHAHAHA!"
https://salmongutter.blogspot.com/search/label/Dashiell Hammett
Back to science.
lite.cnn.com reports 2 telescopes have found hot rock planets circling Barnard's star, the closest. Movement of the star image tipped them off. Different results than previously discredited discoveries.
The story peripherally noted that Alpha Proxima is a triple star. News to me.
lite.cnn.com reports 2 telescopes have found hot rock planets circling Barnard's star, the closest. Movement of the star image tipped them off. Different results than previously discredited discoveries.
The story peripherally noted that Alpha Proxima is a triple star. News to me.
