In what has become a busy week for astrophotography, the Moon and Venus danced close together this evening, with the Moon in its faintest mode and Venus in its brightest.

Both were actually crescents. Unlike the Moon, which is in a crescent phase when it is least bright, Venus is at its brightest when it is a crescent. This is because it can only be a crescent when it is relatively close to us, and can only be full when it is on the other side of the sun from us (and thus fainter due to distance).

My wife had the perfect summation for tonight:

A whole lot of “ok”.

That was really it. Not too many horrible performances, but not a lot to love either. Let’s look at the specifics.

Most people are unaware, but there’s a comet in our neighborhood. Comet Lulin made its closest approach to Earth yesterday, February 24, 2009. While only viewable unaided in very dark skies, it was (and still is) viewable with binoculars.

The wife and I decided to head out into the Texas Hill Country to see if we could find it, and maybe grab a picture or two. We went west on RR1431 until we found a spot off the road about ten miles east of Marble Falls, Texas.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had quite a few people ask me, “What’s that incredibly bright star in the western sky just after sunset?”

Actually, it’s no star. It’s our sister planet Venus, and she’s so bright because she’s relatively close to us right now.

We are still getting closer, so Venus will gain in brightness over the coming days, but I decided to get out and try to get a shot of her tonight. This was off the…

Last night’s home game against the Oklahoma Sooners was one of the greatest in the Rick Barnes era. I hate to say it, but OU is a great team, and will likely make a deep run in the playoffs.

But Texas dug deep and was the better team on Saturday.

We’re now 1/48th of the way through the first term of the Obama Administration, so it’s time to grade how he’s done so far on the various issues. My hope is to grade them against reality and the expectations he has set for himself, not the utterly unrealistic expectations set by the people that elected him.

No, Elmo, it’s not that bad! Don’t do it!

Let’s pour out a box of fruit juice for our homie.

I’m just saying…

I have a confession to make. I’m an American Idol junkie. Yes, I know it’s trash television, that it’s probably rotting my brain, that it represents much of what is wrong with our country, and that my watching it means the terrorists have already won.

But I’m completely hooked.

I was moderately positive on the nomination of Tim Geithner for Treasury Secretary, giving him a “B” when I graded Obama’s appointments. Since the appointment, however, he’s been less than impressive.

First up was his little tax problem. No big deal. I’m sure there would be no negative ramifications if any of the rest of us owed $17K in taxes and interest from five years ago.