tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59510522024-03-14T04:13:56.950-04:00Brad's Bonaire UpdateBrad Swanson reports on the happenings in and around Trans World Radio's station on the island of Bonaire. TWR Bonaire broadcasts Gospel music and Bible teaching programs which can be heard in Latin America and the Caribbean: in the Spanish, English, Portuguese, Baniwa, and Macuxi languages.<br>You can click on the pictures to make them <big>bigger.</big>Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.comBlogger1675125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-31994847028570323252022-12-13T09:57:00.000-04:002022-12-13T09:57:03.199-04:00Venus and Mercury on the Rise I
think I saw Venus low in the West last night, around 6:35 pm. I wasn't
looking for it, just bringing the car in, but it was bright enough to
catch my eye, shining between the houses across the street. I had to watch it
for a while to make sure it wasn't an airplane coming to Bonaire from
Curacao. Mercury should be visible to Venus' upper left, but i didn't
spot it. Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-47666745146465804632022-07-31T21:06:00.001-04:002022-07-31T21:06:37.715-04:00Starry Nights The
weather has been funny lately here on Bonaire. Super clear one moment,
pouring rain the next, Sahara dust etc. But we had a couple clear
nights. I got up around 2am the other night to do some meteor
observing. Saw a handful of nice ones. Saturday evening, I took
pictures of the Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae from out at the TWR
transmitter site. And I got back up around 4:30 to Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-24279977226159032472022-07-26T07:43:00.001-04:002022-07-26T07:43:07.448-04:00Moon and Venus A skinny Moon and Venus were side by side in the sky this morning. They were in and out of the clouds but looked nice together.Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-18138530064543414422022-07-04T11:25:00.003-04:002022-07-04T11:25:32.377-04:00June Showers Bring July Flowers The
rain we had from the Tropical Depression that passed to the South of
Bonaire last Wednesday has caused a few Kibrahacha trees to pop. A
Tropical Wave passed to the North of Bonaire on Saturday which completely
shut down the wind. That made for an awesome bike ride Saturday
morning. The winds filled back in with a vengeance on Sunday, creating
what our son and I used to call "Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-39980152720838513312022-06-23T05:58:00.000-04:002022-06-23T05:58:05.261-04:00June Planetary Parade Early
to bed and early to rise people have an opportunity to see all the
naked eye planets lined up in a row in the morning sky right now. It
has been hazy and cloudy for more than a month here on Bonaire, but when
i woke up at 5:20 this morning, i ran outside and was able to spot the
planets through holes in the clouds, just not all at the same time.
Mercury was low on the Eastern Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-87468949018898112452022-05-11T15:33:00.003-04:002022-05-11T15:33:20.211-04:00May 15 Lunar Eclipse If
the very cloudy skies here on Bonaire ever clear up, we'll be treated
to a Lunar Eclipse on Saturday night. Here on Bonaire the Umbral shadow
will become visible starting at 10:28 pm. Totality starts at 11:29.
Max eclipse is at 00:11:28. Totality ends at 00:54 and the partial
phase ends at 01:55. If it is clear out, I'll probably watch it until
mid-totality and then head to Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-1504062443379280992022-04-27T08:53:00.002-04:002022-04-27T08:53:27.877-04:00This Month's Morning Moon and Planet Show It
rained last night, but the skies were clear enough this morning that I
could see Jupiter, Venus and the Moon close together in the East before
my Koningsdag bike ride. Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-79636351124380601632022-04-15T08:06:00.004-04:002022-04-15T08:06:46.455-04:00Four Morning Planets I
saw the four morning planets at around 5:30 this morning. It has been
pretty cloudy and hazy, but there was a brief window of opportunity.
Venus is moving to the lower left, so the planes will be even more
evenly spaced on Saturday, and maybe the best on Sunday. Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-3690249383618441542022-04-04T11:20:00.002-04:002022-04-04T11:20:39.936-04:00Saturn and Mars together in the dawn sky. Saturn
and Mars made a cute pair in the pre-dawn skies this morning. The are
to the upper right of bright Venus in this image. Mars is to the upper right
of Saturn. I was fortunate to get a small window between the clouds and haze to see them. Tuesday morning Mars will have dropped down to the lower
right of Saturn. The two planets should be a little bit closer together
Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-41727962234634630432022-03-30T11:55:00.000-04:002022-03-30T11:55:00.712-04:00More Planet Fun Here is what Saturn, Venus and Mars looked like this morning. Mars and Venus are moving lower in the sky every morning, compared to Saturn and Jupiter.Mars will pass very close to Saturn on the Morning of April 4 and 5.And on Easter weekend, particularly on April 14-15, the four planets will be equally spaced on a diagonal line. From lower left to upper right, we'll see:&Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-51616216891882837462022-03-30T11:25:00.001-04:002022-03-30T11:25:10.900-04:00Moon and Jupiter Whoo whoo! The clouds cleared up at just the right time for me to see Jupiter to the left of a very skinny Moon. Unlike Mars and Saturn, Jupiter is bright enough that it is easy to spot in the pre-dawn sky.In this picture, Jupiter is about one quarter of the way in from the left edge of the frame, and about the same height as the Moon.Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-54183181207907242452022-03-28T10:01:00.000-04:002022-03-28T10:01:17.745-04:00Moon and Planets Update There
was some haze this morning but i could see Mars, Venus, Saturn and the
Moon quite easily. On Wednesday morning, a super skinny Moon will be
much lower in the sky, and just to the right of Jupiter. I'll take a
look but I'm not expecting clear skies that near the horizon. I haven't
spotted Jupiter yet, but the Moon will help me know where to look. Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-83889411606546615992022-03-26T10:39:00.003-04:002022-03-26T10:39:35.764-04:00Moon and Planets on Monday the 28th The
Moon, Mars, Venus and Saturn will be putting on a nice show for early
birds on Monday morning. It was really cloudy here on Bonaire this
morning but i got a quick sneak preview and snapped a test picture.
Venus will be moving down towards Saturn on Sunday and then more on
Monday. The Moon will be in the frame on Monday. I set the Stellarium
software to Monday to preview the Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-65756750384084483142022-03-16T19:31:00.003-04:002022-03-16T19:51:46.964-04:00Kibrahacha Trees The
Kibrahacha trees on the hillsides East of Antriol are blooming like
crazy. We did a quick loop out there after work this afternoon. I'll
look to see if the trees up North are blooming if i am able to do a
before work bike ride tomorrow morning. Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-13193567796369182472022-02-28T07:10:00.000-04:002022-02-28T07:10:03.289-04:00Moon, Mercury and Saturn I
got to see the Moon, Mercury and (finally) Saturn this morning. I went
behind the TWR studios and shot across the salt pond looking East. Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-50818081942600106142022-02-27T19:47:00.000-04:002022-02-27T19:47:07.728-04:00Moon and PlanetsVenus,
Mars and the Moon were lined up in the pre-dawn sky Sunday morning. I
took a close up picture from our back yard and then went to near 1000
steps to get a wide angle view. You'll probably need to view the images
full size in order to spot Mars in between Venus and the Moon. A little bit later Mercury popped out from behind the cloud bank. It would have been easier to see Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-50899654572956309592022-02-27T18:44:00.001-04:002022-02-27T18:44:18.986-04:00Brazilwood Trees The Brazilwood trees are blooming like crazy right now. The other morning on my before work bike ride, I rode out on the lower dirt road north of Sabadeco, climbed the
killer hills and then came back on the upper dirt road north of
Sabadeco. There were flowering trees all along that route. It was
great. I took a picture with my phone that shows the trees and a
cruise ship Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-88973250837481944522022-02-27T18:33:00.002-04:002022-02-27T18:33:50.000-04:00Rain and Rainbow Here are a couple pictures from Feb. 22. There were some rain clouds dumping rain downtown. The rain is still very heavy at times, but it typically doesn't rain everywhere at once. At the TWR studios, the skies are clear but there is a rainbow shining over the new solar panel array. You can also see the Moon at the upper left of theBradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-11176920173437168402022-02-02T19:31:00.002-04:002022-02-02T19:31:27.363-04:00Moon and Jupiter There is a nice skinny Moon to the left of Jupiter tonight. It looked great, even before it was completely dark out.Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-40371645069397413242022-01-30T22:13:00.004-04:002022-01-30T22:13:35.483-04:00Planets PanoramaI
was hoping to get a picture of Venus, Mars and the Moon making a
triangle in the Eastern sky this morning, but clouds hid the Moon. So i
settled for a couple panorama running from Venus and Mars in the East
to the Southern Cross in the South. I labeled on of the panos showing
where Venus, Mars and the Southern Cross are located. Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-83760119433147796452022-01-16T07:04:00.001-04:002022-01-16T07:04:29.894-04:00Venus Is Baaaack!It seems like only a week ago that I was observing Venus diving down towards the Western horizon each evening. (it was more like 2 weeks) You could have knocked me over with a feather yesterday morning when I headed East at 06:30 on my early morning bike ride and saw Venus blazing away in the Eastern sky. I snapped a couple pictures this morning. Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-89649369220298069852022-01-04T11:48:00.006-04:002022-01-04T11:48:43.274-04:00Moon and Planets Show There
was a very skinny Moon next to Mercury last night. (we didn't see it)
Tonight the still skinny Moon will be to the left of Saturn, and on
Wednesday, the getting fatter, crescent Moon will be to the left of
Jupiter.If it is clear enough tonight, I'm going to try to get a shot
with both the comet and the moon in it. I'm not sure if it will work
but it sounds like a good Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-70659561398756666102022-01-02T20:28:00.000-04:002022-01-02T20:28:20.409-04:00Leonard at the TX site - Full Frame Here
is a full frame version of the comet picture I posted earlier today.
You can see more tail than you can see on the previous full frame
picture. I maxed out the comet contrast, so the next time I work on the
image, I'll try to keep a little color in the towers and smooth out the
sky. Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-70337172048716029382022-01-01T21:54:00.001-04:002022-01-01T21:54:17.560-04:00Leonard at the Transmitter Site While
watching the end of the Rose Bowl game, I did a quick process job on
one frame from my comet photo session at the TWR transmitter site
tonight. I'll go through all the images later and see if I can come up
with something print-worthy. I like this one because it provides a
sense of scale. I'll put up a cropped image of just the comet, later,
if it happens to show more detail Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5951052.post-79716982276895450982022-01-01T21:13:00.004-04:002022-01-01T21:13:42.103-04:00Venus is Bowing out of the Evening Sky Happy
New Year! I was out at the transmitter site this evening to restart a
computer and check out the comet. There were still quite a few nice
fireworks up in the sky too. Venus is rapidly heading back to the
horizon. I snapped a shot of Venus in between the clouds. It is
blurry, but shows how Venus goes through phases much like the moon. Bradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040073226429044860noreply@blogger.com0