Waxing crescent moon and Venus

03/26/12, 9 pm, looking west

Here's the waxing crescent moon and the planet Venus in a duet in the western sky. The moon is at 22 percent illumination and very slightly yellow in color. It is almost just a warm blush of yellow that tinges it with color. Venus looked very large and white just below and to the north. This is one of the last nights they will be so close and bright together.

Waxing crescent moon with Aldebaran and Electra

02/28/12, 9 pm, looking west

Aldebaran is on the right (south) and Electra is on the left (north) of the waxing crescent moon on a cool and clear winter night. Electra's other name is 17 Tauri because it is in the constellation Taurus. Electra is a blue-white giant star and one of the brightest stars in the Pleiades. The moon is at 44 % illumination.

Jupiter and the waxing crescent moon

01/29/12, 8 pm, looking west

This smirking moon smiles like the Cheshire cat in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Last night's cool darkness was the perfect foil to this cat-like grin, the waxing crescent moon at 43 percent illumination.


There are several stories of the origin of the Cheshire cat including carvings on churches, St Wilfrid's in Grappenhall, Cheshire, St Nicolas in Cranleigh, Surrey and St Christopher's church in Pott Shrigley, Cheshire. The latter has the carving that most resembles the illustration of the cat in the book. The story I like best on the Wikipedia page is about the cheese molds in Cheshire: 

cheese was formerly sold in Cheshire moulded like a cat that looked as though it was grinning. The cheese was cut from the tail end, so that the last part eaten was the head of the smiling cat.

The moon was just north of Jupiter which was the brightest planet in the sky last night. Tonight Venus shines bright in the southwest, maybe rivaling Jupiter's brilliance.

Waxing crescent moon

Last evening, November 2nd, was the waxing crescent moon--its face turned toward us half illuminated by the sun. It was a cool, damp and misty night down at ground level at about 9:30 pm. In the sky above, the space was clean, crisp and vast.


This moon, although half illuminated from our point of view, is at first quarter. The first quarter and third quarter moons (both often called a "half moon"), happen when the moon is at a 90 degree angle with respect to the earth and sun. So we are seeing exactly half of the moon illuminated and half in shadow. (Source: www.moonconnection.com)

Waxing crescent moon

The Sunday sky was clear of clouds all day. It was a crisp and clear fall day in which one is warm in the sunshine and chilly in the shade.


The waxing crescent moon was 31% illuminated last evening, October 30th. Rising in the southwest, this portrait was taken at 8 pm with the moon still low over the neighboring houses. Despite the previous few days of wind and rain, trees have hung on to their leaves on lower branches. The upper branches are bare.


The moon is on its way to full on November 10th and growing in light each night. I like how the shadowed moon still appears in this painting like another ghost barely seen, the Arches paper watermark. The watermark is probably only visible to me, but look for it to the right of the moon reading Arches sideways.

More vastiness

To borrow from Stephen Colbert's vocabulary word truthiness, I've created my own word for the size of the night sky--vastiness. Last night's western sky was ringed with light, thin clouds above the horizon. The beautiful orange waxing crescent moon wasn't visible yet around 11 pm. I think it was lurking behind the trees.


Vastiness is the feeling of being overwhelmed by the size and majesty of the night sky. I will try to feel it into my paintings and show you the results. Ambient light was much brighter last night. Street lights are back on throughout Richmond so our view of the night sky is paler and less detailed.