I did't get up till first light today, 6am; so i missed finding more stars in Ophiuchus or Herculis, but i did take a new step in my viewings of Venus.
I've been watching Venus come up well south of east for the last couple weeks. Ususally I hang around until Venus is completely invisible in the new light and look to see how much closer to east the orange ball floats up. This morning i looked up the directions for 27Aquarius (location of Venus) and 20Pisces (location of Sun). The Sun at 20Pisces rises only 4degrees south of east; Venus at 27Aquarius rises 15degrees south of east. That difference of 11degrees looks dramatically bigger on the horizon.
I spent so much time viewing a virtual sky on a cramped computer screen when i was using Stellarium. the actual sky is so much bigger ....it is different also because you have to arch your head back, and then bend backwards to get a good look at the top of the 'vault.' I guess the Hagia Sophia was like the Stellarium of precomputer days. Course big community planetariums have domes too, but the horizon is still somewhat limited.
I wrote the above paragraphs before going to work this morn at 7:30. Now i have been home for a few hours and had a little nap, taken care of the critters. This is the first time in many months that I did not burn the devils feet and go in the clouds all day at the party house. that makes it a very special day.
