April 22, 2009: Venus and Moon from SF

Vivian White

Finally! Something we can see from the city and I get to post my very 1st OR. Sorry it's long, but I'm happy to be reporting at last...

I was up at Twin Peaks in SF with my sister and a friend by 4:45 this morning for the show and we were thrilled with what we saw. I was amazed at how much brighter Venus was than the ruddy Moon and how low they hung in the sky. The fog was just creeping in under us on the ocean side of the hills but the City and the sky looked gorgeous and Mt. Tam was crisp and clear.

I brought a portable ETX 60 and some 7x50 binocs and we set up right next to a group of teenagers still partying from the warm night before. We had a very danceable soundtrack for the show and it was one of the most festive observing sessions I can remember. A motley crew of drunkards stumbled over and ooohed and ahhed as they looked through the scope. As always, I got as much joy from their reactions and questions as I got from seeing the event itself. I lost a bet with Ken Frank, as Venus disappeared closer to his estimated time than mine. (5:12 by our watch)

Some of them had seen "shooting stars" and I told them about the meteor shower. I only saw one, but it was greener than any I'd ever seen and headed towards the East. I thought for a second it might have been the elusive green flash which I'm still hunting, but it was too early for that. One guy, Victor, asked if the crescent would still be pointed the same way when it came out from behind the Moon. A physics grad student friend of mine (who shall remain unnamed) tried to explain that the Moon's phases are because of the Earth's shadow. I'm always amazed at how many people think that. I pulled out a round coffee mug and borrowed his cell phone. We talked about why we see the crescent and Victor concluded that of course it would be pointed the same way! (score one for astronomy) He said he wanted to take an astronomy course first thing when he started City College next semester. :-)

We then went to the other (quieter) side of the hills and watched for the ISS pass in the west and then up to the top to wait for the reappearance. Lost another bet, as I hoped it would be horns emerging. But one edge seemed to come out first, from what we could see with the small scope. It was a great morning and I was so glad to get to share it with so many excited observers. A good Mexican breakfast in the Mission at 6:30 with the taxi drivers and then I was lucky enough to catch a few more winks before work. What a morning!

~Vivian