#sky report

[mwfrick]

Five minutes of light rain around 9:00am was a throat clearing for steady sun. Along the upper road to Sideng village, it was garlic harvest day. Farmers had flattened the green stalks the day before to better show the roots. Now they sat on burlap sacks in the field and pulled the garlic bulbs by hand. Just past an old earthen gate, a door opened and a shepherd stepped out, followed by a herd of goats. The last out of the gate turned to wait for the shepherd and sounded an impatient bleat, something akin to a human voice. White clouds passed through the pale blue sky on their way to Xiaguan. 4/29

Duanjiadeng, Shaxi, Yunnan, China

[mwfrick]

White clouds roiled the sky like foam on a pot preparing to boil over. On the ground, the turbulence of the sky dissipated into the clarity of a still morning, already wearing a signature of warmth. Art students sat on the riverbank and painted country scenes in even warmer colors. The fields inspired with a dozens shades of green. 4/28

Sideng Village, Shaxi, Yunnan, China

[mwfrick]

The overhead grey of the previous two days yielded to a blue and white sky by morning. The light first had to climb the hills and then angle into the valley, the slant of it catching particles in the air. Three women swept the courtyard. Three sticks of incense burned steady for Kuixing, the culture god. A woman stepped into her field carrying a hoe on her shoulder as three white birds flew east, into the light. 4/27

Duanjiadeng, Shaxi, Yunnan, China

[mwfrick]

In the morning, clouds with dark underbellies scraped the top of the hills but held their rain until mid-day. It fell modestly on the road to Jianchuan and onto Shaxi. The new highway was under repair, so the driver took the old road through the hills, its switchbacks granting and taking views of the valley below. The afternoon stayed gray through dark so that the sun fell without fanfare. Arriving in Duanjiadeng village, I found myself the only guest for the night. The inn keeper brewed a pot of tea and asked that I take off my shoes. 4/26

Duanjiadeng, Shaxi, Yunnan, China

[mwfrick]

Gray clouds skirted Lake Er but clung to the hills. Together they resembled a low fog and soon started to spit rain as late afternoon blurred into evening. In the old town, outside a bar owned by an American, a group of six men played hacky sack. The men wore long hair and loose pants. Several women watched from the side steps. One with deep creases on a young face carried a baby in a woven sling. Rain fell through dinner and into the night, but the men played well into dark. 4/25

Dali, Yunnan, China

[amnhnyc]

This year, autumn arrives in the northern hemisphere at 10:29 pm ET the evening of Monday, September 22. 

With summer’s official conclusion in the northern hemisphere, cooler temperatures and less hazy skies gradually will allow clearer nighttime sky watching. Although solar system objects such as the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter are easily seen even from Manhattan, fainter planets and stars are certainly best viewed from darker sites.

Check out information for finding these darker locales. 

[amnhnyc]

The latest sunset of 2014 is on Friday, June 27 at 8:31 pm. How will you celebrate? Learn more on the Sky Reporter Blog. 

Pictured, a Giraffe and landscape at sunset, in Savuti, Botswana. The photograph was taken by Richard Van Gelder in 1977. 

AMNH/K13673

[hap-less]

i think i saw some of aurora borealis in the sky? really cool esp. being this early and all.