Here are a couple views from a before-work bike ride this week. The recent very heavy rains triggered some Kibrahacha trees to pop. I hadn't noticed them until i saw a picture on Facebook. I think it was too dark when i was riding my bike North and I must have been suffering from tunnel vision when I passed by on the way home.
It hasn't been very windy this week, which is great for bike riding. There are still some "puddles" stretching completely across the dirt roads in places, from the heavy rains earlier in the week. I suffered a wardrobe malfunction as I eeked my way around one of them.
The morning sky, here on Bonaire, was pretty clear on Wednesday morning. So i got to see the cool lineup (from lower left to upper right) of Mercury, Jupiter - Moon, and Saturn.
Here's where Mars was Sunday night. It's not quite where it was back in 2006, but its getting closer. I'll shoot it again Monday night if the skies are clear. There were fast moving clouds Sunday evening, but i was able to get a couple shots in.
The Moon was a little less than two hours past full when i set out on my bike at 6am on Saturday morning. It looked great hanging there in the West, as I pedaled NW to Bopec, here on Bonaire. The sky brightens very quickly here in the tropics.
I lost sight of the moon when i headed East to Rincon, but there were lots of birds chowing down on Shimarukus to keep me company.
Mars is on the move. During the next week or so, it will drift between the Pleiades star cluster and the "horns of the bull." (what we call the Hyades cluster in Taurus) Mars is bright orange in color, as is Aldebaran, which forms one of the pointy ends of the horns of the bull. Now that they moon is waning, you should be able to spot the Pleiades overhead in the evening sky. The horns of the bull need a slightly darker location.
Interestingly enough, i noticed that Mars will be in pretty much the same spot in the sky, relative to the Hyades and the Pleiades, as it was back on Feb. 25, 2006 when I snapped a picture of them.
