BORROWED SUNSET(released November 6, 2003)

Hanging ghost-like in the east before sunset and beaming like a
spotlight through my bedroom window, the moon has been steadily
growing all week. But Saturday evening starts out surprisingly dark
as the Moon rises eclipsed by the Earth's shadow for most of the US.

At the distance of the Moon's orbit, the Earth casts a full dark
shadow several Moon diameters across. The orbit of the Moon is not in
exactly the same plane as the orbit of the Earth, so the Moon does not
pass through this shadow on every orbit. When it does, we have a
lunar eclipse.

The totality of this eclipse will be from 5:06pm to 5:31pm PST. While
east coasters will be treated to the whole show (8:06 to 8:31pm EST),
sundown in California does not arrive until 6:07pm... too late for the
main show, but still in time for something rarer than hen's teeth: a
lunar sunset.

Because of the finite size of the planetary bodies, we in the west
will still have a show to watch. Just as it takes some time for the
Sun to cross the horizon during a sunrise, during which the landscape
is bathed in golden or red light, so too, the Moon sees a ``sunrise''
as the face of the Sun glides out from behind the Earth.

Even after the Moon emerges from the Earth's deepest shadow (its
umbra), it is only partially lit by the ``rising'' Sun. The Moon
should be visibly shade by the Earth's ``penumbra'' until 7:45pm PST.
(In the east, look for this penumbral shading to begin at 6pm.) The
filtering of the Sun's light through the Earth's life-giving
atmosphere is the airless Moon's only chance to experience the sunset
colors that we so take for granted here on Earth.

Saturday's alignment might take place over a country shrouded in rain
and snow. On the east coast, the moon rises bright then dims so
utterly that its passage may be obvious even through heavy cloud
cover. For us in the west, we must hope for gaps in the clouds and
seek a low eastern horizon to boot. Of what use is there then to know
of this eclipse? Of what use is there then in me writing these words?

I tell you that I have already raised my inner eye skyward in writing,
imagining the expanse of the heavens that lies beyond these gray
skies. So for me the time has been well spent. And whether you
remember the eclipse on Saturday or not, if while reading you have
even once imagined the Earth and Moon tirelessly circling each other
in their dance around the Sun, then for you, the reading has been
worth it, and I am satisfied.

some eclipse web page references:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/04nov_lunareclipse2.htm?list511098
http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/objects/eclipses/article_1072_1.asp

released October 30, 2003

HALLOWEEN AURORAS

While devastating fires are slowly being contained in the parched hills of southern California, the Sun puts on a display of its own marked by a recent major flare among the twenty largest recorded.

Solar flares release floods of ionized particles which spray the planets as if from a fire hose as the Sun rotates. Last Thursday one such blast from the Sun passed the Earth resulting in aurora displays as far south as Florida but with minimal disruption of satellites or radio and barely a quiver in the power grids of US and Canada.

As I write this Thursday morning we await another large geomagnetic storm set to begin this afternoon and last through Saturday morning.

The Earth's own magnetic field protects us from most of the Sun's radiation, causing most of the solar wind to bend safely around and past the Earth. A small fraction of the ionized particles which sweep by us every second funnel down the magnetic poles of the Earth to dissipate there in the lovely but harmless auroras. During such a storm as this, however, particles may penetrate affecting communication satellites and power grids and may deliver significant radiation to the astronauts in the space station and even to high altitude travelers passing close to the Arctic.

The flares (known as coronal mass ejections) spring from sunspots which mark vast knots of tangled magnetic fields peaking up above the Sun's surface. The current sunspots - some of the largest ever recorded - are a dozen Earth diameters across and can be easily seen with equipment you probably have at home right now. Don't look at the sun directly! Be sure to use the safe viewing techniques described in the web page listed below. Over the span of a few hours you can watch the spots grow and evolve as they slide along with the Sun's rotation.

Even though it is now over three years past the maximum of the Sun's eleven year activity cycle, these storms are among the most violent on record. The largest storm recorded occurred during the infancy of technology in 1859, and it shorted out telegraph wires all across the country and resulted in auroras as far south as Rome and Hawaii.

A growing crescent moon will light your way this Halloween, but remember to look to the north as you make your rounds, keeping an eye out for ghostly auroras in the northern sky. And if your cell phone fritzes out on you or your house lights go dark, it may be just that darn service again... or it may be a Halloween trick from the Sun!

Data from NASA's Soho satellite including pictures and movies of the recent activity:
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/

safe sun watching techniques:
http://www.spaceweather.com/sunspots/doityourself.html

CNN highlights the solar flares:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/10/30/solar.storm/index.html

Solar storm of 1859:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/23oct_superstorm.htm

released October 23, 2003

FLOP CLOCKS

Daylight saving time ends before dawn Sunday morning so roll over and give yourself another hour of sleep! Next week, it will be easier to rise in the mornings, but evening commutes will be dark and dangerous. Crashes are always plentiful when we go back on standard time so pay special attention when you are a motorist and wear light clothing when you are a pedestrian.

This weekend also marks the dark of the moon with new on Saturday, October 25 at 5:50am PDT. Early darkness provides an opportunity to reconnect with the skies.

You may be surprised to see that the Summer Triangle still dominates the zenith at full dark. The ever earlier sunsets in this northern hemisphere almost keep pace at this time of year with the westward drift of the constellations. Thus the Triangle appears at the zenith at ever earlier times but maintains its position relative to the twilight. This won't last for long; over the next month as the daylength ceases to shrink so rapidly, the Summer Triangle will at last sink away into the evening glow.

Saturn rises this week at 11pm local time but next week (hey presto standard time) at 10. Over the next few months, Saturn slides with the stars into evening visibility out of the east. He stands guard over Orion's left shoulder in their winter passage overhead.

And from the west comes Venus, freshly out from behind the Sun. Just visible along the horizon and now quickly following the setting sun across the horizon, Venus will slowly rise to become a prominent evening sky object by the new year.

In the vast gap between Venus and Saturn, Mars continues its slow eastward slide through the stars, fading to dull red as it goes. The three bright planets creep closer together over the next few months and will make a conspicuous grouping in the far west by April.

A few unusually large sunspots are making their way across the face of the sun. Check the spaceweather reference below for daily updates.

Although the Northwest stormy siege is well begun and East coast frosts are underway, this has been a luxurious Autumn for us here in Santa Cruz with nary a drop of rain to strip the colorful leaves from the trees... and nary a drop to whet the whistles of the anxious dear.

sunspot photos
http://spaceweather.com/

released October 16, 2003

FILTERED LIGHT

Autumn has us fully in her grips now. City trees flame to light (though the more cautious natives are still waiting for the secret signal), and the ever earlier twilights are aglow with colors from pale peach to limpid lavender. Do my eyes see what yours do?

Perception inevitably occurs through the veil of history. My response to you is colored by how people have responded to me in the past. Those who have shaped me were in turn shaped by their own experiences. Humanity thus passes across generations, not just genes, but also behavior, and so arises culture. My language, my habits, my beliefs: these and more were taught to me beginning at an early age.

And thank heaven for that conditioning! How would we evolve if each child had to start from scratch? Parents pass on what they learned saving the child from countless difficulties. They also pass on subtle biases and patterns of relationship; some further, some don't.

I struggle daily to distinguish what is true from what I merely expect. I gain what objectivity I can by slowing down, feeling things through, and pondering my influences. I try to recognize habitual reactions and patterns that isolate me from what is real. How has this habit been helpful? How did I learn it? How has it hurt me? What am I without it?

The pressure of culture is immense, and personal conditioning is all pervasive, but both can be changed incrementally. A recent Alternet news report showed that misperceptions about the Iraqi war depend sensitively on the person's source of news. It is well to question the sources of information from internal to multi-media. What biases are being expressed? What points of view are being excluded?

I recently lost my polarized amber clip-ons and have enjoyed and endured this Autumn's slanting sun without my usual filtration. Subtle nuances of color are now available to me but so is the glare off the road. Our filters are useful; our filters are restrictive.

The Square of Pegasus emerges from the twilight this weekend, gliding point-first toward the zenith in the early evening. Enjoy the season's dewy evenings of cool Autumn witchery. Question assumptions. Give thanks. Live love. Be well.

We are our grandmother's prayers, we are our grandfather's dreamings.
We are the breath of our ancestors, we are the spirit of God.
-From the song We Are by Ysaye M. Barnwell (Sweet Honey in the Rock)

Misperceptions about the Iraqi war.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16892

released October 2, 2003

FALLING FAST

Welcome October! Welcome shorter days and longer nights. The day
time sky is taking on the soft look of Autumn with hazy clouds
sparking peachy highlights from morning to afternoon. Welcome
brightening trees waiting to be stripped by the restless gusts that
herald the winter storms.

During the month of October, Mars fades a factor of two in brightness
as it is left behind by the racing Earth. Mars will still be visible
in the evening sky through May of next year, but watch how it fades
into the background stars over the weeks to come. A growing gibbous
moon passes fetchingly close to the outpaced planet this weekend,
pausing before Mars on Sunday evening and behind it on Monday.

The southern hemisphere of Mars is nearing its own summer solstice so
the ice cap facing the Earth is starting to shrink. Global dust
storms are common during this phase of Mars, so look for yellow blots
to cover the darker features of this our neighbor planet.

The growing moon reaches full Thursday/Friday October 9/10 at 12:27am
PDT. This is a Hunter's Moon. Tell me, are all your crops in, and
are your deer are fattening for the winter?

While Californians contend with dew-damp cars and cooler nights, the
eastern seaboard is already receiving frost and freeze warnings.
Enjoy the evening daylight now in these last few weeks before the
clocks change. Time of apples and leaves, last camping trips and
flocking birds: welcome October!

Info on the continuing Mars show.
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/article_1043_1.asp

released September 25, 2003

STAR PARTY

Twilight brings a sprinkling of lights revealed one by one in a
darkening sky. Sometimes it can be easiest to identify stars before
full dark since they are visible by the handfuls rather than by the
hundreds. When just one or two stars are out, I know that others are
coming soon. I spin impatiently on my heel craning my neck to find
the crucial star that will make the patterns snap into place.

On a camping trip last weekend, the first star I noticed was yellowy
red Arcturus high in the west but sinking. Not associated with any
fancy constellations (what, you've never heard of Bootes, the
herdsman?) and located in a fairly empty part of the sky, it is easy
to forget about this, the third brightest star in the night-time sky.
Once highlighted against a bare twilight sky, though, and not
up-staged by the glamorous planets, Arcturus is an eye-catcher.

Its orange color reminding me of Mars, I turn around and, yup! there
it is. Mars is fading noticeably now but is still magnificent higher
than ever in the south east sky.

Overhead at the darker zenith I find the reliable Summer Triangle.
The first star to appear is Vega, almost straight overhead due west of
Arcturus. (Remember that near the equinox, sundown marks due west.)
Next appears Deneb, east and a bit north of Vega. Last to wink in is
fainter Altair, the southernmost star of the Summer Triangle.

As the stars pop into place, I see the Big Dipper, scooping low across
the northwest horizon to refresh its load of water, and the rising
Cassiopeia which balances the Dipper across the Pole Star. Also I see
Sagittarius in the south, pouring out the last of its tea to mark the
end of the summer party. Goodbye, Sagittarius! See you next year!

New Moon is Thursday, September 25 at 8:09pm PDT so the crescent moon
won't wash out the stars until the middle of next week. Let ever
earlier sundowns draw you out into the stars this weekend.

interactive star chart:
http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/skychart

downloadable chart:
http://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html

released September 18, 2003

TICK TOCK

As the Autumnal Equinox approaches, the daylength pendulum accelerates
through the bottom of its arc, and our days shrink more quickly than
at any other time of the year. I suspect that recent consistently
tardy risings mean that my internal monitor is simply unable to keep
up with these rapidly changing morning skies. Though I look forward
to the blessed California rains, I dread driving home in the dark.

Autumnal Equinox falls this year predawn Tuesday, September 23 at
3:47am PDT. This seems a strange date since it's been stuck in my
head that solstices and equinoxes fall on the 21st of the month. This
isn't exactly so and depends on variables including leap years, 31-day
months, and time zones. Vernal Equinoxes usually falls on 20ths or
19ths, while Autumnal Equinoxes are on 23rds or 22nds. Solstices over
the last ten years were indeed mostly 21sts, but summers had a few
20ths thrown in while winters had a few 22nds.

There is another subtle factor affecting these dates. The Earth's
orbit is not exactly circular but a bit elliptical. We are actually
farthest from the Sun during the northern hemisphere summer meaning
that the Earth is moving slowest in its orbit then. Summer is the
longest season of the year: about four days longer than winter.

Stretched though it may be, Summer is coming to an end. Greens are
parching to browns, and white-backed adult gulls are already lining
our shores back from their northern breeding grounds. My arms are all
scratched from the bramble-pulling that is gardening in this season:
it is still too early to plant natives. Holding fast to the bob of
the descending pendulum, I dream deep of plants and places. Whee! My
hair streams out behind me as I swoop through the lowest point.

E quinox info including some helpful figures:
http://skyandtelescope.com/aboutsky/pressreleases/article_1049_1.asp

released September 11, 2003
PLANETARY POLKA

The ancients long ago noticed that some of the brightest of the
nighttime stars seemed to have minds of their own, not following the
usual stellar schedule. They named these lights `planets' from the
Greek for wanderer. The word shares roots with such words as
airplane, plastic, and (no I'm not kidding) polka.

During most of their orbits, planets farther from the Sun than the
Earth move eastward through the stars as do the moon and the Sun.
Astronomers call this motion prograde. These same planets go through
a little two-step in the sky spending some days or months apparently
moving backwards against the stars (retrograde) while they are being
passed in orbit by the Earth. Like one car passing another on a
freeway, the slower car appears to be moving backward.

This summer's close passage has put Mars retrograde since late July,
but on September 29, it stops and turns prograde.

Mars is still almost as bright as it was a few weeks ago and is even
easier to view now that it is high in the southeast at sundown.
Icecaps and valleys should provide fine viewing for even six or eight
inch backyard scopes throughout the month of September.

The end of retrograde marks a subtle finale to our meeting with the
warrior planet. Again on its usual prograde slide, Mars will fade
rapidly as it recedes into the distance, left behind by the Earth's
greater speed. Mars's eastward slide proceeds ever faster over the
next few months, temporarily outracing the Sun. We won't truly lose
Mars until June when, a pale fraction of its current glory, it is
absorbed by the western twilight.

So wait ye now for our questing probes, patient planet; soon after the
year is out, Spirit and Opportunity, small fingers of our curious
race, will land upon and probe your soils.

Hail and farewell, beloved Mars, well met! Though you continue in the
sky, soon your brilliance will fade, and you will be but one light
among many.

released September 4, 2003
GARDEN DREAMS

The days are now shortening noticeably. California evergreens from
madrones to maples to redwoods are lined with drooping brown leaves
which they are shedding to conserve water for the long wait still to
come before the winter rains. Summer gardens are gilded with the hot
yellows of daisies, black eyed susans, and coreopsis, but flowers are
widely spaced around gaps where the early season perennials rest.

There is a steady swing to the seasons; man cannot rush it nor woman
slow it down. The learning in this life for me has been to discover
when to plant and what to plant where. If the deer eat my roses or
the Hawaiian hibiscus doesn't survive the summer, I grieve my lost
plans, and I don't plant those things again. Or maybe I'll just try
it over there this time... In this dry summer climate, the `every
plant in its place' philosophy is called `native gardening' if plants
are chosen from the local flora and `xeriscaping' if not.

Despite this laissez faire attitude toward landscape plants, I find
myself willing to irrigate, fence, and gopher-wire my fragile
vegetable crop. The juicy pith of the tomato, the fragrance of
home-grown basil seems to justify this tricking of nature. I know
that, left alone, my cucumbers would die, and even that most robust of
plants: the zucchini, would fail to bear; they just don't belong here
in this climate.

As a human, I am, after all, not hardy in this climate either; it
takes a roof, four walls and a deep well for me to thrive here. To be
truthful, my sanity didn't allow time for a veggie garden this year,
but in my mind it is lush, and I mull over plans for the Spring.

Perhaps an honest gardener would plant only hardy herbs like the
rosemary, sage, and lavender that survive the summer whether tended or
not. After all, fresh organic produce is readily available in markets
this time of year. Do I really need to grow my own? To tend or not
to tend is more wisely a question of joy in labor than of results.

A growing gibbous moon scoots low across the southern horizon this
week, overpowering the Milky Way on Friday and joins the still blazing
Mars for a handsome pairing on Monday. Full will be complete at 9:36
am PDT on Wednesday, September 10. May you and your gardens thrive!