In the dark of October 5th

The waxing gibbous moon shines in the southwest with stars Altair and Vega keeping it company. I'm always confused by moon phases but here is my explanation of the waxing gibbous. When a moon is more than half illuminated, but less than full, it is gibbous. Gibbous also means that it is convex or protuberant. A waxing moon is increasing the area that is illuminated; a waning moon's area of illumination is decreasing. So this moon is on its way to being a full moon on October 12th at 2:06 am UT. Here on the East coast of the US, that would be 7:06 am or shortly after dawn. Here's the month of October in moon phases.


Altair is the twelfth brightest star in the night sky. Vega is the fifth brightest star in the night sky, but the second brightest in the northern hemisphere; Arcturus is the brightest.


The night was cool and crisp--the ambient light from the city wasn't distracting at all.