Shadowy Moon

  

Lucky that I looked at the Moon when I did early this morning.  I checked a little bit later to try to see the Moon emerging from the shadow and it was completely fogged in!

This photo is from a little after 3:30 a.m. PST. 

Well-defined

  

Eric looked up just after sunset tonight and noticed the craters on the Moon looked particularly sharp in the crisp evening air.  Photographed from Bodega Bay on 29 December 2025.  [You can click on the image for a larger version.]

Morning pairing

  

Waning crescent Moon on the left and a bright Venus on the right.  Photographed from Cotati in the early morning of 19 October 2025.

And here's a close-up of the Moon:

 

 

East and west

 

 

Rising moon to the east (on the left) and setting moon to the west (on the right).

 

The moon rise photo was taken ~7:30 p.m. on 6 October 2025, while the moon set photo was taken ~12 hours later at ~7:15 a.m. on 7 October 2025.

And here's a close-up of the moon rise so you can see some of the details:

 

 

 

A beautiful Harvest Moon!
 

Moon journal

  

Last week I showed a waning crescent, but tonight (26 August 2025) there was a beautiful waxing crescent in the western sky after sunset.

P.S.  Finding the moon on any given day always makes me smile.  Partly because it reminds me that keeping a moon journal was one of my early lessons in making daily natural history observations.  Looking for the moon every day and tracking its phases is a great way to connect to the rhythms of the Earth and the Moon.  If you want to try it, here are some basic guidelines from NASA for a moon observation journal.

Parade of planets

   

Have you been awake in the early morning this week?  There's a wonderful "parade of planets" visible in the eastern sky.  

Above, the crescent moon with Venus to the far right.  

Below, Jupiter is also visible high in the upper right corner of the photo:

 

 

And here's a close-up of that wonderful crescent moon:

 

 

 

Our view of the eastern horizon is somewhat obscured, but if you live high enough you might be able to add Mercury to the parade in the very early morning hours.

  

Rising and setting

  

We've been working lots of very early morning low tides recently, so here's a sunrise/moonset photo from last week.

Hidden behind the moon

  

We were driving home from work tonight (13 January 2025) during the occultation of Mars by the Moon, but here's a quick shot after Mars had emerged and was visible just above the Moon.  (Yes, that tiny speck is Mars!)  My camera didn't really do this pairing justice — it was quite striking to the visible eye.

Frosty moon and fall dragon

  

Started the day with frost and morning fog and a beautiful crescent moon...

...and in the afternoon we noticed a Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) sunning in our backyard.  In Cotati, air temperatures reached the 60-65°F range today (28 November 2024).

 

 

Lunar reflection

 

 

Moonset with reflection.  

 

Over Bodega Harbor on 6 November 2024.

In the western sky

  

Crescent moon in the western sky on 4 November 2024.

Moon at sunrise

  

A beautiful sunrise yesterday morning (26 October 2024) with pink highlights in the clouds surrounding the moon.

Moon shot

  

I wish I had been able to photograph the rising Moon last night -- it looked so big!  And nice early evening light surrounded it.  But here's a quick shot of the setting Moon this morning (17 October 2024), looking west from Cotati.

Looming large

  

Getting ready for some low tide work this morning, couldn't help taking a photo of the super blue moon!  Photographed from Cotati on 20 August 2024.

Owl moon?

  

We heard Great Horned Owls calling outside of our house tonight (25 March 2024), so I stepped outside to listen.  A great night for owls -- calm, clear, lots of stars, and a bright moon to the east.  An owl moon!  :)

Setting crescent

  

 It was little too dark, but I decided to try anyway...and the photo turned out somewhat interesting.  I like how it looks like a painting!  Crescent moon before it disappears behind low clouds over the ocean on 10 February 2024.

First of the year

  

Full moon photographed in the early morning on 25 January 2024.

Venus and the Moon

  

I missed seeing the Moon pass in front of Venus this morning, but it was still a pretty view with both high in the early morning sky.

Moon of the first frost

  

Full moon, 28 October 2023, rising over the hills in Bodega Bay.  

I was reading about the many names for this month's full moon and when I came across the "Moon of the first frost" it felt right.  It's been chilly here during the last couple of nights!

Atmospheric

  

 Half moon and sunset clouds from Cotati, 21 October 2023