The Full Moon On The Longest Day

The moon was directly behind the earth from the sun at 7:02 is morning and at that point, with the center of all three orbs in a straight line, technically Full. It will be quite large tonight, the shortest night of the year. That means that today is the SUMMER SOLSTICE for the northern hemisphere and there will be more sun visible than any other day. Today the sun (sol) stands still (stice); it has been rising and setting farther and farther in the northeast and northwest but that movement ceases today and will stop or stand still. That is what Stonehenge and many other human "temples" to the sun mark, the day the sun stops moving farther north, stands still for a day before beginning to "move" back to the south. If you go out and watch the sun set tonight and check again tomorrow it will set a tiny bit to the left (southwest) of where it goes down tonight.
All of this has little to do with the sun itself, it's Earth's fault and out planet is on quite a tilt in relation to it's orbital plane around the sun: 23 1/2 degrees of tilt (23.45 for sticklers). The solstice is because today is the day that the northern end of our planet is the most tipped toward the local star; that most tipped moment is a 6:34 this afternoon.  If you were hanging out at 23 1/2 degrees north latitude today, the sun would be directly over your head at noon local time and you'd be hard pressed to find a shadow. For any one at 38 north like I am, the sun will be 14 1/2 degrees from overhead at a little after 1 today (daylight saving time has pushed "noon" back an hour and in the 15 degree width of a normal time zone "noon" varies from place to place).  If you are in the southern hemisphere, today is the winter solstice and the longest night of the year kicking off your winter season.  We in the north will officially be in summer at 6:34 today.
If all of that is too confusing (or wordy…) just get out and enjoy today on your planet. Another coolish overnight is giving way to a warm day - the cool side of the high pressure has moved and our air will be coming from the south today, more so tomorrow with even more humidity and a front will slide down from the north and increase the chance of showers for tomorrow. Another will come through Thursday before clearing out and setting us up for another lovely weekend. But, that's days away and you have the first week of summer to enjoy, get out there and wander, today on Earth.
Happy Solstice!!

A Wild Storm & BEAR

A bear is a bit of a scary, powerful abstraction of an creature, until it's in your front yard headed toward the house; then it is an adrenal rush and quite real. My day on earth started with a smallish but still adult bear casually strolling through the front yard. It retreated when I hollered but came back toward the bird feeders until I opened the door and hollered again and then he trotted on down a path like perhaps he was not feeling wanted.
In weather news: a WILD, wind and rain storm line rolled through the Old Dominion yesterday evening leaving trees and branches down and power out in many locations. Cool temps and showers are in store for today but will move on and leave a lovely weekend. Enjoy.
The moon is hanging with Mars and Saturn in Scorpio tonight if you get a sky glance.
It's a wild planet, beasts are about, be wary, today on earth.

Bear in the yard!!

A Hot Weekend, HOT!!

The cool, dry air is gone and the ridge of sultry air that has been cooking the western 2/3 of the country has arrived on the east coast and it is hot. We will be jumping from the pleasant 70's and 80's into the upper 90's in one days time: today and as a bonus, tomorrow. But, we are just 9 days away from the summer solstice and a little heat is to be expected; we have had quite a cool, wet spring but, as I may have mentioned, there is nothing but change. The extreme heat will be short lived, Monday will drop back into the 80's here in Va. and forecasts call for it to stay there, if a little unsettled and stormy for next week. A little taste of summer is ok.
Last night the moon hung between Regulus and Jupiter and tonight our local satellite, moving about 12 degrees per day across the sky, will be almost to first quarter and now just east of the king of the planets. Mars and Saturn will dance with the moon late in the coming week but tomorrow the now gibbous moon will begin a three days move through Virgo, hanging with bright Spica Tuesday evening. It's hot and mosquito-y out there on late spring evenings but the moon and 3 bright planets with the constellations of spring (and summer) make it worth a look. So, it's a little warm, get out there on the big planet, today on Earth.

Canadian Air Visits the Southlands

A big trough in the jet stream has allowed cool, dry Canadian air to spill into the Old Dominion for a lovely mid-week and will hang around until the weekend. A thin, waxing crescent moon is in the southwest below Jupiter and Mars and Saturn are the bright red and champagne "stars" in the southeast as the late dark of late spring settles in this evening.
It's a shaky day along mid-ocean ridges with quakes on the divergent boundaries of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans. A 6.3 quake rumbled in Indonesia earlier today and central America was recently shaken, as well. The week old volcano list is pretty normal and Ring of Fire-ish with some outliers on Reunion Island, in the South Sandwich Isles and Etna is spitting liquid rock in Italy. A fairly average week on the third rock out from the big nearby star.
Hope you're ride is going well and that you get out and enjoy what ever the planet has in store for your location, Today On Earth.