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MOON and MARS: I just came in from enjoying great views of the
Quarter Moon (some call it the half moon, but mathematically, 1/2 of
the lighted half = i/4). A few thin clouds are scooting over the
moon view, but most of the views were quite lovely even in steady
binoculars. It was magnificent in my 254 mm reflector telescope at
92X. Wishing others were present to share it. Of further
interest is Mars located well up, just a bit above and left of the
Moon. The Gemini Twin stars, Pollux and Castor are just about as
high and to he right of the Moon.
MERCURY LOST IN SUNSET GLOW: I was also looking for Mercury as well.
It is still above the horizon for awhile after sunset, but it has now
progressed too far down into the sunset glow to be easily seen. It's
surface brightness has also diminished considerably as well. It is
coming between us and the Sun, exposing mostly its night side; only
a thin crescent can be seen of its lighted half. My last view of
Mercury was April 16, the evening of the BNS stargazing night in
Grand Pre. That evening a number of folks had their first view ever
of Mercury.
HAVE A LOOK: If any see this message in the next hour or so, Mars
will still be out there just above the Moon (If the clouds haven't
thickened too much). The light from Mars tonight is taking 10
minutes to reach our eyes (10 light-minute away). Moon's light only
needs 1.25 seconds to get here. Pollux is much further; its light
tonight has been almost 34 years in getting here (33.7 light-years
distant). Castor's light tonight (the one more west) is 55 years
old. (55 light-years distant). If you want that in kilometers (300
000 km/sec x 3600 sec/hour x 24 hour /day x 365.25 day/ year x 55
years) Distance to Castor i= 520 700 400 000 000 km, and that is a
reasonably close neighbour to Sun. Isn't that about 521 million,
million or 521 quadrillion? 300 000 is an approximate speed for
light in km/sec :-)
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