Early Morning Crescent Moon

This was unusual. There was an early morning crescent moon, and it was a waning moon http://lunaf.com/english/moon-phases/lunar-calendar-2013/12/30/.  The official new moon is on January 1, 2014, and the moon will start waxing. The morning sky was so neat today.  I am so thankful I took a few minutes to look at the early morning crescent moon. 

The moon in Lubbock is very interesting.  Who expects to see the moon in the morning sky?  But we do.  Who expects to see the sun in the east and the moon in the west in the early morning. But we do. Is it the wide open spaces? The latitude? The longitude?

I am not an astronomer even by avocation, so these questions are not some I could even begin to more than ponder.  But I love the wide open sky of West Texas.

The Moon Moved

Tuesday evening, i sat out after dark. It was the night of the full moon, and it was a beautiful evening, and a gorgeous sky.  The moon rose in an arc that took it over of the middle of the pecan tree to the yard in the east. Wednesday evening was also beautiful.  As I watch the moon rise, I was surprised how many degrees to the north it rose as compared to Tuesday night. I expected some change, but the amount for one night really surprised me.  Hmmm. It was still a beautiful moon.

The Wind is Stout

We were advised that there would be a shift in the wind tonight, from the Northwest to the North, and it would get stronger, and the temperature would get colder.  Well, as I sit here at my computer, I can attest to that.

My computer room has windows that face north and east.  When the weather comes in from those directions, especially from the north, it is very noticeable to me in the computer room.

Tonight, I am hearing the kind of flapping noise that I associate with very strong gusts of wind, or very strong sustained winds. Mostly gusts, but very strong winds, nevertheless.

We will hope that no one has power outages, or other damage from these strong winds.

Hot!

It is hot.  It is suppose to be hot in Lubbock at this time of year. We are drying out.  No rain in sight. For the second year in a row, there are large parts of the nation that are experiencing a drought. Parts of Texas have recovered, but we have not. But, it is not as bad as things were last year. There is little we can do about it.  And complaining will not help.

I saw advertised a book called Global Weirdness http://www.amazon.com/Global-Weirdness-Relentless-Drought-Weather/dp/1455892165 which is about not just global warming, but the changes in weather we can expect as humans overpoweringly influence the climate.

It sounds like a book worth reading.

Evening Storms

This is the time of year that evening storms build and give us strong winds and rain with lots of thunder and lightning.  Thursday was a case in point. The storms built to the northwest and traveled into Lubbock, along with an Haboob (wall of dust).  I left the book group about 8:35 PM and the dust was blowing through.  Later, there was rain. My inaccurate rain gauge collected about .25 inch of rain. 

Friday, the storms built again in the evening, but a little earlier, yet it took a while for the rains to start. But they were heavy when they came. The rain gauge this morning indicate 1.25 inches. That is marvelous.

This afternoon, the storms have gathered again. Unfortunately, right now, we have clouds, thunder and some lightning, but no rain in the area.  In a way that is good. The Moonlight Musicals http://www.lubbockmoonlightmusicals.org/ are trying to put on a play tonight.  And, there is a Juneteenth Celebration at Mae Simmons Park http://unifiedjuneteenth.com/Events.html  http://www.kcbd.com/story/18781519/lubbock-celebrates-juneteenth.  If the rains hold off until after 11 PM, that would be nice.

I hope the rains come, though.

Transit of Venus

Today, the transit of Venus http://www.transitofvenus.org/ was visible from Lubbock, Texas. The South Plains Astronomy Club http://southplainsastronomy.org/ set up several telescopes at the Museum of Texas Tech http://www.depts.ttu.edu/museumttu/ to allow viewing of the transit.  They started at 5 PM and went until sunset.  I was able to attend this event. There was one telescope that had a very long line, and I did not wait to use it.  But in about 30 minutes, I saw 4 different views of the transit.  The Texas Tech Graduate School was providing free (I was surprised) lemonade and tea. There was popcorn available.

There were many people just sitting there, not in line to look at the sun. There were sun-safe glasses available to allow looking at the sun. 

The next time this happens is in 105 years.  I am pleased I had the opportunity to see this tonight.

Thank you, South Plains Astronomy Club.

A Full Moon

There is what looks like a full moon tonight. The calendar says that the full moon is on the fourth. There are lots of clouds.  We had a chance of a storm earlier, but I think we only got wind and big drops of rain. We need the moisture. Apparently, it stayed to the north.

It is warm, cool enough to enjoy the night air, if I were not watching the Celtics - Heat game again tonight.

I was out earlier.  The girls were glad to see me come home.  I am not sure Taki is confident that I will not disappear again.