Archive for June, 2012

It’s time for the 13th seasonal sunset watch!!

• When: Wednesday, June 20 at 9:01pm (so come at 8:45pm)
• Actual sunset is supposed to be at 9:11, but at the summer solstice we noticed that the Sun set about 10 minutes earlier than the USNO says it does, so I’ve moved the time of our sunset watch up so we don’t miss it. In Autumn the timing seemed to line up correctly – what will it do this time?
• Where: Solstice Park – all the way up the hill from the tennis courts (or, if you’re not in Seattle, wherever you have a view of the western horizon!)
• Who: Everyone welcome, as usual.

Sunset on September 23, 2011 Image credit: Jason Gift Enevoldsen

Come watch the summer solstice sunset at Solstice Park in West Seattle on Wednesday the 20th. We’ll see if the sunset lines up with the placed marker. I’ll be there even if it is cloudy because sometimes the Sun peeks through just as it begins to set, but if it is driving rain or sleet I’m staying home with some hot tea!

If you’re interested – here’s the timing of various celestial events  from Seattle, courtesy of the U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department:

Sun and Moon Data for One Day

The following information is provided for Seattle, King County, Washington (longitude W122.3, latitude N47.6):

Wednesday 20 June 2012 Pacific Daylight Time

SUN
Begin civil twilight 4:31 a.m.
Sunrise 5:11 a.m.
Sun transit 1:11 p.m.
Sunset 9:11 p.m.
End civil twilight 9:52 p.m.

MOON
Moonset 9:14 p.m. on preceding day
Moonrise 6:22 a.m.
Moon transit 2:11 p.m.
Moonset 9:53 p.m.
Moonrise 7:24 a.m. on following day

Phase of the Moon on 20 June: waxing crescent with 1% of the Moon’s visible disk illuminated.

New Moon on 19 June 2012 at 8:03 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

This event is my part of the NASA’s Solar System Ambassador program, and thanks to West Seattle Blog for publicizing the last few!

Everyone is welcome, see you there!

~ A l i c e !

It was cloudy and raining here in West Seattle. I gotta say though, perseverance won out. We had three “sun breaks.” The first two almost didn’t count the clouds were still so thick, but we did see the Sun. Everyone else saw Venus during the first break, but I didn’t see it until the second  break. Then we had a good one about 10 minutes long about halfway through the event.

Photos

 Photo (c) 2012 Jason Ayres Gift Enevoldsen (please ask permission before copying)

Photo by Spencer Laube

We spent hours waiting in the rain.

Yes that’s an umbrella over the telescope.

But, we did see it!

Want More?

And yes, I owe you photos from the eclipse too. My friend Dave Ingram hosted the viewing here at Solstice Park while I gallivanted off to California. It was socked in up here, but beautiful in Redding, CA.

~ A l i c e !