Lunar eclipse

Early this morning, the earth, the moon, and the sun lined up perfectly so that the earth's shadow landed on the moon. This lunar eclipse was special because it was a super moon, meaning that the moon was very close to the earth, relatively speaking, so it looked bigger. And it was a "blue moon," meaning that it was the second full moon during this calendar month. This picture was taken just before 5:00 a.m. and is slightly before full eclipse.


This picture is taken around 5:30 am and is at full eclipse.

You can read some of our previous eclipse posts here and here.

Moon & palm

Not exactly in Downey. Tonight I'm in Beaumont celebrating my daughter's birthday. The moon has been incredible lately and I couldn't resist the way the moon lit up the sky with the palm tree in shadow.

"The moon will guide you through the night with her brightness, but she will always dwell in the darkness, in order to be seen." 
~ Shannon L. Alder

Snow moon

Tonight we had a beautiful full moon. I saw no stars, but the moon was clear in the sky. At least that is what I thought. According to NASA, we won't have a full moon until Monday the 22nd. Then it will be a snow moon. According to the Farmers' Almanac, full moon names date back to Native Americans in the northern and eastern U.S.

“Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars.”
~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Winter nights

One of the great things about Downey is the temperate climate. It seldom gets too hot in the summers, one or two days above 100, and not too cold in the winters, the coldest for the days around the 50s and then 30s for the night. Going into this evening, though, I felt a definite chill in the air. The trees have given up all their leaves and the wind cuts right through my sweatshirt.

The moon is a waxing crescent right now and seems to be covering up to try to keep warm.

The moon

Last night the moon rise was impressive. It started out as this big orange ball on the horizon, then we watched as it slowly climbed into the night sky. As Pam posted last night, we were at the end of the Rio San Gabriel river in Seal Beach.

“May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night and a smooth road all the way to your door.” 
~ Irish blessing

By the light....

The moon and the light of a street lamp. It changes the look of what it shines on. The bark of this tree shows so much more character in the glow of the night. The feel is mysterious.

"Sunshine bores the daylights out of me. Chasing shadows, moonlight mystery." 
~ The Rolling Stones

The setting sun effect

The setting sun turned these walls into a flamingo shade of pink. After I looked beyond that, I noticed the faded flag in the window, and lastly, the moon overhead.

Did you know that five of the six flags planted on the surface of the moon, beginning in 1969, are still standing? However, after 46 years in the harsh environment of the moon, the stars and stripes have long faded away.

Lunar eclipse

This past Saturday, all of North America, including Downey, was privileged to watch one of those spectacular events of nature that happens only when everything lines up just right. The earth lined up just right between the sun and the moon so that the earth's shadow covered the moon, i.e. a lunar eclipse. You can read about it here. I shot this picture at around 4:30am, just before full eclipse.

The next lunar eclipse will be later this year on September 28. A partial solar eclipse will take place a few weeks earlier on September 13.



I thought I would show you what the eclipse looked like when you take the picture without using a tripod to hold the camera still.

Sunset sky

I work in Torrance, about 20 miles southwest of Downey. A week or so ago, I went outside to check on something, and I was greeted with this beautiful sky. It took me a minute to notice the moon was there, shining through the clouds. I know I've seen this before, but it made me wonder why I could see the moon while it was still light out.

According to space.com, two things contribute to the moon being visible in daylight. First, it is bright enough that its light penetrates the scattered blue light of the sky. If you're looking at exactly the right spot with a telescope, you can also see the planets Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter in daylight, plus a few of the brightest stars (though few casual observers can actually pull this off). Secondly, the moon must be high enough in the sky to be visible.

I just appreciate the beauty of the sky and the moon.

"I've never seen a moon in the sky that, if it didn't take my breath away, at least misplaced it for a moment." 
~ Colin Farrell

I see the moon and the moon sees me

Last Saturday, Joan showed you pictures of the astronomers at the Columbia Memorial Space Center on International Observe the Moon Night. I went later that night to also observe the moon and the people observing the moon.

This is Mark, a recent member of the Columbia astronomers. He is giving back a thumb drive to this lady. He has transferred picture files of the moon that he took with his 2000mm telescope. Anyone bringing a flash drive could get these pictures.



This is one of the moon shots I received.



And this is a closeup of Sea of Tranquility, which is where Apollo 11 landed in 1969. I can't see the American flag though.

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
~ Neil Armstrong

The night, the moon, the clouds

This night the moon was amazing. It kept hiding behind the clouds, but as I watched, the clouds would move out of the way and let the moon peek through. It was eerie and a little mysterious....it was the night before the rain came.

"We love the night and its quiet; and there is no night that we love so well as that on which the moon is coffined in the clouds" 
~ Fitz-James O'Brien 

Observe the Moon Night

Tonight is International Observe the Moon Night—an annual event dedicated to encouraging people to look up and take notice of our nearest neighbor, the moon.

People were gathered on the lawn of the Columbia Memorial Space Center with telescopes set up ready for an evening of viewing.



"Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars." 
~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Country in the city

My wife and I often pass this house on our walks in the evenings. We always admire it since the owners have captured the look of the country and brought it here to Downey.

The bush-lined walkway and the aspen trees in the yard compliment each other in size and shape. There is a deck by the front door with an umbrella-covered table I'm sure they use to eat meals. It is set off from the street by the taller bushes so as not to be seen from the street. They have given us many good ideas for our own front yard.


Do you look for ideas in other people's yards?


During our walk, the full moon was coming up.

"The city is always recruited from the country. The men in cities who are the centers of energy, the driving-wheels of trade, politics or practical arts, and the women of beauty and genius, are the children or grandchildren of farmers, and are spending the energies which their fathers' hardy, silent life accumulated in frosty furrows in poverty, necessity and darkness."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Drought-tolerant plants

The US Bank on the corner of Florence Ave. and Brookshire recently redesigned their parking lot. They installed parking canopies with solar panels on top and they landscaped their flower beds with native drought-tolerant plants and rocks.

I went by after work to take this picture to show the dedication some Downey businesses have to be proactive during our current drought. The moon just got in the way.

In with the blue

It's a blue moon tonight! (Technically at 9:58 tomorrow morning, but it counts.) If you're like me a few years ago, you'd be looking for the moon to have a blue color to it.

"In fact, 'blue moon' refers not to color, but to rarity. Blue moons are defined as either the fourth full moon in a season, or, more recently, as the second full moon in a month. It's the second definition that covers August's blue moon; the month's first full moon was on Aug. 1.

"Blue moons happen because our calendar months don't precisely sync with the moon's orbit. It takes the moon 29.5 days to wax and wane from full to new to full again. With the exception of February, months are longer than that, meaning that once in a while the timing works out so there are two full moons in one month." msnbc.msn.com

If you miss this one, the next chance you get will be in 2015

The moon by day (by guest photographer Steve)

I was going on an early morning bike ride when I spotted the moon from my front yard. I ran back into the house and got Allison’s camera to capture the moment. Because the sky was especially clear from the recent rains, the moon was brighter than usual.

The interesting thing about this morning though was that it reminded me of a training film by Dewitt Jones that inspires its viewers to look for the “next right answer.” So I turned around and found it.

Some enchanted evening

As I wandered around the pumpkin lot this evening, I glanced up to see what Ma and Pa Scarecrow were looking at, and saw a beautiful quarter moon.

By the light of the moon

I was getting ready to head out of town a couple of days ago. As I packed my car so I would be ready to leave the next morning, I noticed the moon breaking through a layer of clouds that had managed to hide its bright light from me. It reminded me of an old Irish blessing.

“May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night and a smooth road all the way to your door.”

I see the moon

Ok, technically the moon isn't in Downey, but you can see it from here and I think that counts.

Tis the moon

“There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the
dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable
mystery”

-Joseph Conrad

Last night as I was pulling into the garage, I saw this eerie image of the moon peeking through the neighbor's tree. The moon conveys such beauty and mystery to me that I couldn't resist trying to capture it in some way.