May 24, 2006
Earthshine
To accompany this dancing pair, click on the blue music icon above to hear a clip from my flute and basssoon duet “Re:pair.”
4:53 a.m., 5/24/06.
I finished my work/procrastination/work/puttering for the night and walked into the living room to place a few packages of orders by the front door for the next day’s mail pickup.
A bright light caught my eye.
Turning toward the east-facing windows, this is what I saw: our moon and Venus, in a lovely pas de deux above the Santa Monica bay.
The thin crescent of what’s left of that green cheese couldn’t hide the rest of its orb: this wonderful sight is called earthshine. Sunlight bounces off our planet and reflects against the face of the moon. And then back again, to my face. Beaming.
I padded out to the deck and, lacking a tripod, placed my little camera on the top of the hot tub cover for steadiness.
Snap. snap.
Ahhhh.
Dancing the morning away.
Horst said,
May 24, 2006 @ 11:29 pm
…. almost as stunning as today’s “Astronomy Picture of the Day” 🙂
Alex Shapiro said,
May 24, 2006 @ 11:38 pm
I don’t know why, but NASA’s pix always seem to come out a little clearer…
ha ha ha