[va-richmond-general] Venus, Saturn, and Geese
- From: "Jim Blowers" <jimvb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:32:37 -0400
Last night I went to the Science Museum with my 8-inch SC telescope to show
the public the stars in the sky, as part of a joint skywatch held by the
Science Museum and the other RAS - the Richmond Astronomical Society. Among
the objects I showed to the public were Venus, Saturn, and the Orion Nebula.
Venus was near inferior conjunction and showed a beautiful thin-C crescent,
while Saturn had a mere line for its rings and lots of moons.
But what intrigued me the most last night, at about 8 pm or so, was a huge
crescent in the southern sky, about as long as the distance between the two
pointer stars in the Big Dipper. The crescent was dark gray, with variable
shape and it was moving! I wondered what that was - I had never seen
anything like that in the night sky. Then I realized that it was GEESE
flying in formation, in somewhat of a flying wedge. They were headed towards
the west and were in the southern sky. I think I could see them because of
the huge light pollution at the Science Museum.
Has anyone else seen ducks, geese, or swans flying in formation at night
(not twilight)?
Jim Blowers
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