Venus seen in broad daylight

Stardate: February 26, 2012. Leesburg, Virginia. 5:00 pm local time. Viewed the planet Venus in the broad daylight. I first heard of this possibility back in 1978. I was reading the book Samurai by Saburo Sakai. Sakai was a Japanese fighter pilot in World War II. In his book he describes some of the rigors of the prewar training that pilot cadets had to endure. He described how the pilots trained their eyesight by finding bright stars in the daytime, looking away, and then finding the star again as quickly as they could. Keen eyesight and the ability to identify friend or foe in the air was very important to the young pilots survival. I had looked before, but had never really seen Venus in a blue sky with plenty of time before sunset. Today was different because the crescent moon was nearby serving as a guide post. I stood in the shade on the east side of my house. Found the moon and then spoted the starlike Venus in the blue sky between the Sun and Moon. Venus is currently shining at better than -4 magnitude, and is easily the brightest object in the sky other than the Sun and Moon. This was a good day. The Moon, Venus, and Jupiter were all visible this evening and Mars will be seen later tonight.

Geminids 2009

December 14, 2009
1:00 am - 1:30 am
Leesburg, VA
39° 6' 56",-77° 33' 48"


Great showing by the Geminids this morning!
21 Geminids were observed from my backyard in 30 minutes.
That's good considering sky obstructions and city light pollution.
Limiting magnitude estimated at about 4.5

The best time to observe meteor showers is after midnight when the Earth is plowing directly into the dust trails left behind by comets. Next major meteor shower is the Quadrantids - expected to peak after midnight January 3 / 4.

Psalm 19:1-3

 ¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
       the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

 ² Day after day they pour forth speech;
       night after night they display knowledge.

 ³ There is no speech or language
       where their voice is not heard. 

Jenny is awesome!

I Love Jenny!