NATURE
MONCTON NATURE NEWS
Jan 22, 2022 (Saturday)
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Edited by:
Nelson Poirier nelsonpoirier435@gmail.com
**Yolande LeBlanc was up at 6:40 AM on Friday morning and spotted a bright object in the east south-east. She put her birding scope on it to see a crescent, very much like an eclipse. Yolande comments she is not really a stargazer, but never saw this before.
In consult with Curt Nason, he points out
what Yolande saw was the planet, Venus. Venus recently was in the evening
sky and passed between us and the Sun on January 8. As it approached Earth
throughout December we saw less and less of the sunlit portion. It moved into
the morning sky shortly after the 8th, showing a crescent on the opposite side
(toward the Sun). As it moves toward the Sun over the next 7 months, we will
see it go through phases like the Moon going from crescent to full.
Curt comments “Yolande made a wonderful discovery. Many times, he has
shown someone the crescent Venus in a telescope, and they thought it was the
Moon.”
Brian Stone also sends screenshots from the free program Stellarium that
show a bit more visually of what Yolande saw. The small object beside the
screenshot of planet Venus in its crescent lit state in the second photo is an
unnamed star.
**Brian
Stone went to Wilson Marsh on Friday and had a nice walk in the bright sunlight
but saw no birds to photograph. He did get photos of some of the many tracks/trails
out on the frozen marsh. (Editors note: some suggest the equidistant bounding of
Mink while others with tail /foot drag suggest Muskrat. Brian measured others
with imprints at 14 inches apart that suggest Red Fox).
He also noted
that the HIGHBUSH CRANBERRY was still in possession of all its fruit.
(Editors note: an indication that its tart flavour makes it a berry choice of
last resort). Plenty of other food for the berry “connoisseur” birds to keep
them from needing the cranberries it seems.
Nelson Poirier
Nature Moncton
