First Lunar Eclipse Of 2009

A penumbral lunar eclipse will take place on February 9, 2009, the first of four penumbral lunar eclipses in 2009… then on Friday night, Feb. 27, a lovely crescent moon will appear to snuggle up close to Venus, particularly for skywatchers across the Western Hemisphere.  It will make for an eye-catching scene as the two brightest sky objects of the night dominate the early evening scene for about three hours after sundown; sadly, this will be the last in the current series of evening get-togethers between the moon and Venus, for during March Venus will slide rapidly down into the sunset glow and by month’s end will disappear from our evening sky until the spring of 2010.

A poem in honor of Tortoise Moon’s 1st anniversary and St. Valentine’s Day….

Legend of the Moon People

Two moons circle
a remote garden planet
The moon spirits become restless
and go down to walk the garden path

The Great Fire in the sky
smiles upon them and they
each become small moons
reflecting His day star light

Crossing paths one evening
both are drawn to the light of the other
Hand in hand, they now walk
the garden path together

He is Tortoise Moon
and she is Laughing Moon Woman
He is a gradual receding tide,
kind and gentle.
Passionate and impatient,
she is the rush of tide returning

May two moon people ever orbit
in perfect symmetry,
bound by the inimitable force
of gravitational attraction ~e.e. wilholt