The cold front last evening brought more than seasonably appropriate temperatures - the skies this morning when I stepped outside at 6:30 AM were crisp and delightfully transparent. Scorpio was climbing above the neighbor's roof with Jupiter flanking Antares to the north. Normally I can just about make out the head when this constellation transits, but here with the first glow of dawn approaching I can easily see down to 3rd magnitude as evidenced by sigma Scorpii. It's clearly one of those somewhat rare skies of excellent transparency.
As I turn to unlock the car a bright, slow & steady moving light cuts a path to the northwestern horizon - clearly a pass of the International Space Station sporting its newly equipped solar panels. I wait and watch, anticipating that it might enter the unseen Earth's shadow but it's claimed by the treeline first.
Beginning the first leg of my morning commute along the beltway the eastern horizon is deeply exposed. And there in the deep blush of the dawn is an incredibly thin crescent Moon less than two days from new. The road curves north and it slips from view. By the time I turn South toward DC the unseen Sun has changed the skyline hue from burnt orange to a cheery yellow which camouflages the lunar sliver.
It's been a great start to the day - and I wonder how many others have taken note of the celestial show this morning?
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