Here's something you might be interested in.
Daylight Savings Time ends this Sunday morning, November 2 at 2 a.m. With the resumption of standard time, midday (the time when the sun reaches its maximum altitude in the south part of the sky) will again be close to 12 noon on our clocks, rather than 1 p.m., as before.
Autumn color in San Diego County's mountains reaches its greatest intensity in late October and early November. The forested heights of Palomar Mountain are especially colorful right now. Black oaks on Palomar's rolling uplands will be exhibiting bright yellow and brown hues for the next few weeks. Cuyamaca Reservoir, although hard hit by the 2003 Cedar Fire, remains a worthwhile leaf-peeping destination. The shimmering leaves of the Lombardy poplar, an Italian import that has taken root at the south end of the lake, delight the eye with their golden radiance.
Halloween evening (Friday, October 31) features a lovely pairing of the waxing crescent moon and the planet Venus. Look low in the southwestern sky to spot lanternlike Venus, and a thin sliver of crescent moon a few degrees below it. Jupiter, another lanternlike (but dimmer) planet lies much higher and to the left of Venus. On November 3, the much thicker crescent moon will appear right next to Jupiter.
The Taurid meteor shower, featuring about 10-15 visible events per hour (as seen under clear, dark skies) peaks this year around November 3 or 4. Best times for viewing are approximately 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., after the moon has set. Individual meteors belonging to this shower are relatively slow-moving (they're caused by particles burning up when colliding with the earth's atmosphere at a mere 18 miles per second). All Taurids seem to radiate from a fixed point in the direction of the constellation of Taurus, hence their name.
Daylight Savings Time ends this Sunday morning, November 2 at 2 a.m. With the resumption of standard time, midday (the time when the sun reaches its maximum altitude in the south part of the sky) will again be close to 12 noon on our clocks, rather than 1 p.m., as before.
Autumn color in San Diego County's mountains reaches its greatest intensity in late October and early November. The forested heights of Palomar Mountain are especially colorful right now. Black oaks on Palomar's rolling uplands will be exhibiting bright yellow and brown hues for the next few weeks. Cuyamaca Reservoir, although hard hit by the 2003 Cedar Fire, remains a worthwhile leaf-peeping destination. The shimmering leaves of the Lombardy poplar, an Italian import that has taken root at the south end of the lake, delight the eye with their golden radiance.
Halloween evening (Friday, October 31) features a lovely pairing of the waxing crescent moon and the planet Venus. Look low in the southwestern sky to spot lanternlike Venus, and a thin sliver of crescent moon a few degrees below it. Jupiter, another lanternlike (but dimmer) planet lies much higher and to the left of Venus. On November 3, the much thicker crescent moon will appear right next to Jupiter.
The Taurid meteor shower, featuring about 10-15 visible events per hour (as seen under clear, dark skies) peaks this year around November 3 or 4. Best times for viewing are approximately 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., after the moon has set. Individual meteors belonging to this shower are relatively slow-moving (they're caused by particles burning up when colliding with the earth's atmosphere at a mere 18 miles per second). All Taurids seem to radiate from a fixed point in the direction of the constellation of Taurus, hence their name.