[Launch Alert] Moon and Venus at Dusk

[Launch Alert]

                             LAUNCH ALERT
 				  
                              Brian Webb
                     Ventura County, California
                  launch-alert-editor at earthlink.net
                        www.spacearchive.info
		       
                             2012 January 25 (Wednesday) 20:12 PST
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                        MOON AND VENUS AT DUSK
                            by Brian Webb

If the sky is clear, sky watchers in the Southwest and beyond can see
a close pairing of the night sky's two brightest objects tomorrow.
The celestial pairing, known as a conjunction, occurs on the evening
of January 26 when the Moon's slow eastward movement takes it
approximately 7 degrees from the planet Venus. 

Although the objects will appear to be close to one another, Venus
will actually be some 105 million miles behind the crescent Moon. 

To see the conjunction, look in the southwest about 25 minutes after
sunset. All you'll need to see the dusk duo are clear skies and the
unaided eye. 

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                   FOLLOW UP TO "DID YOU HEAR IT?"

Launch Alert recently published an account from a reader in Tujunga,
California who reported hearing a boom from the sky on January 15 at
about 16:45 PST. The account generated several e-mails from Launch
Alert readers.

The following people reporting hearing it:

  Ray Holt, Garden Grove
  Jake Johnson, Redondo Beach
  Christine, O'Meara, Five Cities area
  KD6RCX, Ridgecrest
  Bonnie, Near Vandenberg AFB
  Denis LaBonge, Newport Beach
  Marco Miranda, South Orange County
  Neil, Valencia
  Vint Vastine, Palmdale

Conversely, the following people said they did not hear it:

  Al Canales, Temecula
  Ron Belanger, San Diego
  Herb Breneman, Thousand Oaks
  Mills, James E., Near Edwards AFB
  Keri Akers, Atascadero
  CD102, Simi Valley
  Susan J., Sylmar
  Malan Koplan

I'm not sure what caused the boom.

However, I am sure it wasn't caused by the reentry of Russia's
ill-fated Phobos-Grunt Mars probe that same day. The spacecraft
reentered the atmosphere several hours earlier. Also, the reentry
happened off the coast of Chile and was too far away to be heard in
southern California.

My guess is the boom was caused by flight testing of a manned or
unmanned U.S. military aircraft.

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