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Zodiacal Light and a Waxing Crescent Moon

The Waxing Crescent Moon returns to the evening sky Thursday, September 9, its fingernail-shaped thin crescent barely visible above the western horizon some ½ hour after sunset. On Friday and Saturday evenings, the fatter and brighter crescent moon lies close to the brilliant white planet Venus. By early next week, the thickened crescent moon will lie in a favorable southerly position for evening telescopic viewing. September evenings in San Diego are often a perfect time to turn a telescope on the moon and note its hundreds of visible craters. Calmer weather conditions this time of year tend to minimize atmospheric turbulence over San Diego's coastal and inland areas, and that contributes to crisper telescopic views.

The Zodiacal Light, which can appear as a diffuse, pillar-shaped glow in the eastern sky for up to an hour before dawn, will be quite conspicuous at dark locations this weekend. The subtle glow is caused by the sun's light reflecting off dust particles floating in space in the plane of our solar system. In the sky, this reflected light appears superimposed along the string of constellations we know as the zodiac, and especially those zodiacal constellations closest to the direction of the sun. An old name for this phenomenon is "false dawn" -- a good description of the effect under clear and very dark skies.

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The Waxing Crescent Moon returns to the evening sky Thursday, September 9, its fingernail-shaped thin crescent barely visible above the western horizon some ½ hour after sunset. On Friday and Saturday evenings, the fatter and brighter crescent moon lies close to the brilliant white planet Venus. By early next week, the thickened crescent moon will lie in a favorable southerly position for evening telescopic viewing. September evenings in San Diego are often a perfect time to turn a telescope on the moon and note its hundreds of visible craters. Calmer weather conditions this time of year tend to minimize atmospheric turbulence over San Diego's coastal and inland areas, and that contributes to crisper telescopic views.

The Zodiacal Light, which can appear as a diffuse, pillar-shaped glow in the eastern sky for up to an hour before dawn, will be quite conspicuous at dark locations this weekend. The subtle glow is caused by the sun's light reflecting off dust particles floating in space in the plane of our solar system. In the sky, this reflected light appears superimposed along the string of constellations we know as the zodiac, and especially those zodiacal constellations closest to the direction of the sun. An old name for this phenomenon is "false dawn" -- a good description of the effect under clear and very dark skies.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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