[Leica] Van Gogh Moment

[Bob Adler <rgacpa@pacbell.net>]

Dear All,

Several weeks ago I heard an interesting
radio-journalism report on NPR. An astronomer became
very interested in the Van Gogh painting "Evening
Landscape With Rising Moon" (
http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/p_0735.htm ).
Through research of Van Gogh letters, art history,
etc., an astronomer was able to determine that Van
Gogh would have witnessed this bright yellow moonrise
in the southeast horizon on July 13, 1889. The bright
yellow of the full moon (originally thought by some
who viewed the painting to be the sun) was caused by
the sun setting 180 degrees to the moon at the same
approximate time. You can listen to the radio report
and read other related articles at
http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=1300315

Well, to make a short story long, this astronomer
stated that the next time the sun and moon would be
lined up exactly like it was on July 13, 1889 would be
this Sunday, July 13, 2003. According to my software,
on the Pacific Coast, the Moon will be rising in the
SE at approximately 20:00 Pacific Daylight Savings
Time. The sun will be setting at the same time and in
the NW. Looks like this astronomer knew what he was
doing!

So I thought, well if this moonrise was good enough
for Vincent, it certainly is good enough for me.
Unfortunately I have a wedding that day, but I will be
trying to escape by 7:00pm to capture the moment. I'll
be looking to make an image as lasting and memorable
as Vincent's :-) 

Just thought I'd pass this on to the group in case
anyone is interested in capturing this moment and
sharing it with the rest of us. I'll be out there
(albiet with both ears) just for the fun of it and
hopefully will grab an image to remember the event by
(since I can't afford the original).
Cheers,
Bob

=====
Bob Adler
Palo Alto, CA
rgacpa@pacbell.net
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