I Lost the Moon

I'm taking this astronomy class.... incredible mind-blowing class. The only science class worth taking at Arapahoe Community College. Bar none. Real science happens in that class.

I wish I could boast of being a real scientist myself. After all, I'm taking this super brainy class. I've got these really high tech binoculars and I downloaded the latest moon app on my Mom's smart phone. So, now I can keep up to date with the movements of the moon.

This is all so cool. I pull out Mom's phone and check the stats. Moonrise, 1:45. It must mean 1:45 a.m. I assume. I'm a seasoned astronomer, so staying awake all night to gaze into the heavens is no big deal. I can handle this.

I set my alarm for 0200 hours, just to give the moon a chance to catch up to me and fall fast asleep. The alarm jolts me awake on time. I'm feeling so smart. I mean sooo on top of things. I don't even worry about my shoes. I just grab the binocs and head out side for some hard core moon observations.

The crisp morning is perfect- cool, quiet, rested. Billions of stars light up the sky. I'm standing out back, head craned to the sky. The scene is memorizing, but not what I expected. I can't find it- I can't find the moon. Blast. It's gotta be somewhere! I run out front.

Nothing.

Around the west and east sides of the house. Still nothing. No moon.

I was crushed. How could it fail me????

So, you real astronomers out there. You can start laughing right now. This happened last night and the night before last night.

I've been waking up at two in the morning for the last three days looking for the moon!!!


I've learned two very important lessons:

1. Don't trust a phone app. That stupid phone app made such a fool out of me. Turns out the GPS isn't actually turned on so who knows what location it's set on!


2. Astronomy 101: The moon is currently in its six day crescent. It rises sometime in the early morning- mid day and sets in the late evening. It won't rise again until the following morning. You can't see the moon when your side of the earth is pointed away from it, thus a moonrise and moonset.