In this edition of StarDate Susitna, Kathleen Fleming celebrates the end of double Daylight Saving Time, though Standard Time will last for only the next four months. Other topics this week include a minor meteor shower, the return of the moon to the evening sky, and why upper valley residents will not get to see the upcoming Transit of Mercury.
This is Kathleen’s favorite view of the Moon, when it is about 9 3/4 days past NEW. For November 2019 that occurs mid-day on Wednesday the 6th. You can see the Moon in a daylight sky, but the view becomes more dramatic after sunset. Look for that loop of light jutting out into the darkness along the upper 1/4 of the terminator line. That’s like the sun illuminating the top of the peaks of the Alaska range PRIOR to sunrise or AFTER sunset. On the nearly-10-day-old Moon, that ring of sunlight is the peaks of the Jura Mountains, surrounding the Sea of Rainbows (Sinus Iridium), the basin that is still dark when La Luna is 9 days and 18 hours past the moment of New Moon. Enchanting!
