Today was one of those wickedly cold days that is associated with deepest winter. Although the days are getting longer—the sun is setting nearly half an hour later than a month ago—the sun's new effort is barely holding off the effects of having gone south so long.
In the labs, the humidity hovers around 2%, so static electricity makes working with electronics difficult. On the other hand, it was the perfect day to clean out my large freezer: the frozen foodstuffs barely warm on the back porch.
Tonight, the sky is crystal clear, with the moon nearly full it was already overhead at 8pm. The moon is so bright that its reflection off snow in our back yard makes it look like we've left the outside light on. Moon shadows stretch out under the tree of science:
Looking upward, the shifting atmosphere and wind-blown tree limbs cause the stars to twinkle or even disappear. In a 20 second long exposure of one star actually yields a dozen.
Even the blue emergency light is almost overwhelmed by the light of the moon, which casts shadows downward across the limbs.
