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by Vince_Condella from FOX 6 Milwaukee

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A Spooky Halloween Sight in the Sky
Oct 30, 2008 | 2:55 PM
Category: Weather
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Rip off those Halloween masks Friday evening and look up at the southwest sky for a beautiful sight: the thin crescent Moon will be right next to the blazing planet Venus. Meanwhile, to their left is the blazing planet Jupiter.  There you have it.  The three brightest objects in the sky other than the Sun will be on display for all of us to enjoy.



And it is not just Friday evening after sunset.  The thin crescent Moon will continue to move each night a little bit farther to the left.  So on Saturday evening the Moon will be between the two planets, and Sunday evening the Moon and Jupiter will be snuggling up next to each other.


Jupiter, the Moon, and Venus as seen in July 2007 from Albany, Missouri.  Photo by Dan Bush.  This will be similar to what we will see Saturday evening.


Here is another cool thing to watch for:  when you look at the crescent Moon, notice there is the very bright curved shaped illuminated by the Sun, and then the remainder of the Moon can be seen as a faint dark-gray circle.  This is called earthshine or sometimes referred to as the da Vinci glow, named after Leonardo da Vinci who first explained this sight.

The faint gray outline of the Moon that is not lit by sunlight is lit by the sunlight reflecting off of Earth.  Now that is spooky - in a fun Halloween kind of way.


Earthshine, also known as the da Vinci glow.  The dark gray area is the Moon illuminated by sunlight reflecting off the Earth.
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Member Comments Total Comments: 6
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F0x6Fan read my blog view my photos
Oct 30, 2008 | 8:10 PM

Beautiful pics. I just found me a new desktop background. Thanks Vin
Centauri65 read my blog
Oct 31, 2008 | 1:42 PM

Which is the planet that you can see right before sunrise in the East?
aaro-nf read my blog view my photos
Oct 31, 2008 | 6:37 PM

hi vince-
thanks for the educational, informative and interesting post. thanks for the illustrations and the breathtaking photos. i like the second photo with the breathtaking sunset. i remember you talking about this very subject last night on the 6pm newscast. as always, vince_condella, great job on the posting of this blog. great job and keep up the great work in the weather office and on all newscasts. i just want you to know that all of your blogs are very interesting for us bloggers to read.
---aaro-nf
Snowhawk read my blog view my photos
Oct 31, 2008 | 6:42 PM

I just happen to be a Sagittarius - December 04, 1953.
Which constilation has the most stars?
It looks like Sag has 15 stars.
I sure can't see what the original people who invented them did (man with a bow).
By the way, who DID start naming the constilations?
I'll be listening at 21:00 & 22:00 tonight but you can post the answers here I guess.
Aravynandrea read my blog
Oct 31, 2008 | 11:03 PM

Ok, here's a WEIRD question maybe Vince can answer for me. I was outside tonight after dark taking my dogs to go piddle... and one thing caught my eye. A thin, glowing cloud. It reminded me of a jet stream like this http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Jet_
stream_seen_from_the_ground.JPG

I thought it was like that Borialis thing (northern lights) because it was clear out, no cloud in the sky, and it was so bright. I was thinking of going to get my mom after the dogs finished because I thought it was the northern lights...

but after about 15 seconds, it faded out kind of like a glowstick losing it's glow... I dont' know how to describe it.

was that a weather event... or a residual for a shooting star... does a plane's jet stream glow in the dark... or could it have been a comet?
Vince_Condella read my blog view my photos
Nov 4, 2008 | 2:08 PM

Thank you all for your questions. Sorry it has taken me so long to answer them.

The planet before sunrise is Saturn - looks a bit yellowish. It appears almost directly overhead. The bright pre-dawn star in the southwest sky is Sirius - looking bright white.

I'm not sure which constellation has the most stars. I think Sagittarius would rank right up there close to the top. Constellation names began with very early civilizations. Early Chinese, Greek, and Roman astronomers first named the constellations thousands of years ago.

And the thin, glowing cloud that was asked about was a jet contrail, a long, thin cloud produced by moisture in the exhaust of commercial jet aircraft. The moisture freezes into an ice crystal cloud.
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Vince_Condella

FOX 6 Chief Meteorologist

Member Since: 8/24/2006


 

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