To my rhymes 'cause I'm all about dissin' 'cause
It takes two to make a thing go right (Woo)
It takes two to make it outta sight (Yeah)
Hit it! {Rob Base & D.J. Ez Rock...It Takes Two}
Ok, now that we've already established that I can't be trusted to carry out a normal, serious post without tainting it with goofiness... we can now move on. For the record - every now and then I hear or say a few words and it so nicely morphs into that song. Like now, I didn't plan on putting it there but it flowed right out of the title. The 80s were such a blast. Anyone around my age should remember it. My friend Pat (with the Flock of Seagulls hairdo) had the 12 inch. He let me borrow it and I was in heaven. Hmmm, don't think I ever returned it, come to think of it. Oops...
And now we return to the regularly scheduled nerdy portion of our post...
I need your help folks. I saw something in the night sky starting just after 10pm on Tuesday, August 9th that was so unsettlingly beautiful. Here's the problem... I can't pinpoint what it was. Here's a couple of pictures (not taken by me) that may give you an idea of what I saw:
These are pictures from a lunar eclipse. I saw a waxing crescent moon (I think somewhere around 40%) but it was a very crisp, clear definition unlike the one here. The color was just as vibrant as this full moon photo. Do you know how difficult it is to keep your car on the road when there is something as magnificent as that look right at you?
So of course I tried to do a search to find out the details. Truly not as easy as you might think. I did learn that the pictures of a lunar eclipse (shown here) match what I saw perfectly in color, detail and dramatic flair. Unfortunately I could find nothing regarding a lunar eclipse on that date. Yes, I've even gone to the NASA websites; in fact, I may email them and ask what it was that I was seeing in my little corner of the world. Hey, they got the shuttle down, they have free time... So if you might know of a way for me to get greater detail, please let me know. I would appreciate it greatly.
If any of you know of websites where you can put in your location and the date and get information on the sky for that time, please feel free to pass that along to me. This really has become my new mission. I've never seen anything so humbling in such a natural, simplistic way. It was even more breathtaking than the first time I saw the Leonid meteor showers. Speaking of which, August 12th marks peak time for viewing the Perseid showers here...
{Looks down}... Hey, what's that? {Bends to peek} Oh, just a bit of nerd showing...
11 comments:
Ah. I just re-read this and noticed this time around the {NOT taken by me} comment that you added (in a very small font, I might add..!) Makes me really glad I didn't leave a comment earlier on how impressed I was at your photographic skills & the zoom on your camera! ;-)
And Lady Sappho I couldn't agree more... Google knows everything!!!
Hey, be a nerd. I'm the biggest nerd around. And haven't you heard: nerds are hot now!
Whatever you saw sounds amazing. I'm not sure what it was, but I'll hunt around on the computer and see if I can come up with anything.
Bruan wrote a poem about the red moon. You might like it!
http://bruanham.blogspot.com/
Lady S - Seriously? You have a thing for Office Max (etc.), too?! Just keep me away from the pens and I can usually make it out alive. I bet you get a little excited when you get their bigger catalogs, too - don't you. Come on. Admit it...lol. The moon was truly amazing. Creepy in a way, but so incredible. As for the 12 inch... after I posted it, it did kind of grab me that way but then I just figured it was me. =) Now that you've mentioned it, it's too funny to edit!
Terri - Oh, if ONLY I could take credit for those! Now if you would have complimented me on them I'd have been put in the position of either drawing attention to the 'disclaimer' or accepting the compliment graciously... what to do, what to do... I did try Google, but it won't give me any specifics. I figure I'm asking it the wrong thing.
JohnH - Have I ever mentioned that I have always had a thing for the intelligent, nerdy boys? =) Really, I have! If you do happen to find anything about the sky that night, I'd love to know. Seems Jeeves and Google don't like the way I word my searches.
Chicken Little - Thanks for that link - I went right to it. Of course now I'll be harassing Bruan to see if he actually saw it or just wrote about it...
Sent you an email with a copy of an article I found online. I don't know if that explains what you saw, but thought it might.
If the moon was fairly low in the sky, it may have been an atmospheric effect. A couple of months ago, we had a bright orange moon above Cape Town after a particularly smoky day.
I have to agree with KN. It is prolly an atmospheric effect.
If not... I'd be willing to settle for the Martians are coming and we have to build bunkers and go into hiding
Lady S - Oh yes... pens! My favorite; blue medium point. Sad how willing I am to discuss my favorite pens. Of course alt colors are good (purple, green) and an occasional broad tip. But I am not above stealing any pen; I am a pen thief. Working in a hospital we get lots of pens from the drug reps... it's like XMas and my birthday all rolled into one. I am a nerd. A simple one...lol.
JohnH - Thanks so much! I started reading it and somehow got distracted (I think by a link) but even if that's not what I saw... now I want to! =) Might miss the meteor showers tonight - overcast. Damn.
Kyknoord - No, that was the Pimp Daddy mothership. Might be you, George Clinton and Bootsy Collins getting beamed up... a trio I'd surely pay to see! =) (If you don't know who that is, my entire comment is wasted...)
ChittyChittyBangThud - I really like that name for you! =) Considering I saw it, it most likely has something to do with martians. And Mars IS close now... only like 85,362,154 million miles or so. *Sigh* That's it, I'm emailing NASA to find out if it was an atmospheric effect. My inner nerd won't be silenced any longer. ANY LONGER I TELL YOU!!! =)
Greg - You know, those damn cartoon moonmen! They just come in and think they can do whatever they like. If they bring me some cheese next time and give me a warning (so I can get my camera ready) they have my full support!
Beelze - Heehee... I like the idea of a sponsor! So, dust? from Africa? There are other things I'd much rather have from Africa than dust, but I'll accept that if it gives me such a beautiful moon to look at. I did email NASA today, so we'll see. Apparently there was a lunar eclipse that night but not so that I should have seen the effects of it due to it's location. Like I said, they landed the shuttle; plenty of time for them to tend to me now. =) No Perseids for me this time but the Leonids... that is truly spectacular. First time I saw them I was on a huge deck right on Lake Erie... perfectly amazing.
I saw a the red moon over here, yay!
Motor - You saw it?! Gorgeous, eh?
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