Thank you Nolena for posting that video. I haven't seen the Milky Way that well from Wrightwood in many years. Once in a while, when the LA Basin is clouded over, and all our neighbors' outside lights are off, the sky looks really beautiful.
I elected to post here rather than start a new topic because I liked the title - "Dark Skies". I thought I would post astronomical events to encourage people to go outside and enjoy the night sky. Today's is the crescent Moon and Jupiter. Tonight the crescent moon will be visible in the West after it begins to get dark. Jupiter looks like a bright star a few degrees above the Moon. You may notice a "V" of stars next to the Moon. That is a star cluster known as the Hyades.
If you have binoculars, take a look at Jupiter through them. Balance them on something sturdy (the hood of a car works well) and you will see up to four "stars" in a line one one side of Jupiter or the other. Those are actually Jupiter's four largest satellites (moons) that were discovered by Galileo back in the early 1600s. Now we know that Jupiter has more than 60 satellites (63 at last count), most of them much smaller than the Galilean satellites which are similar in size to our Moon.
Tomorrow the Moon will be a slightly larger crescent and located a little above and to the left of Jupiter as it moves slowly through the stars on its monthly orbit around the Earth. Don't forget to look at the Moon in your binoculars as well. It is a fine sight, and you can see some of the larger craters.
If take a few minutes to just enjoy the beauty of the night sky, you will see one more reason why it is wonderful to live here in Wrightwood or the high desert!
