Starry, starry night.Flaming flowers that brightly blaze,
Swirling clouds in violet haze,
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.
Colors changing hue, morning field of amber grain,
Weathered faces lined in pain,
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.
(partial lyrics to Don McLean song about Van Gogh)
The last two nights were perfect for star gazing. We set up our telescope and trained it on Venus. Swirling clouds in violet haze,
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.
Colors changing hue, morning field of amber grain,
Weathered faces lined in pain,
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.
(partial lyrics to Don McLean song about Van Gogh)
It was the brightest glow in the western sky between 9 and 10 at night Eastern time. Under double magnification the planet looked like a glowing ball.
When we changed from our low power lens to the higher power lens we saw the fat waning crescent shape of the planet. It was really neat to see the curve of the orb distinguished from the black sky around it.Through our telescope we saw an image very close to this one provided by the Calvin College Observatory. The orientation was just a little different.
