Honoring The 236th Anniversary of the Battle of the Waxhaws

Greetings my friends and fellow travelers. 
 
On Saturday, May 28th, my US Memorial Day weekend travels took me next door to Lancaster County, South Carolina.

Most people in South Carolina spent the weekend enjoying the sunshine at beautiful Myrtle Beach a couple hours away (or at least just Saturday because of the wet weather brought ashore by Tropical Depression Bonnie effecting the rest of the weekend). Some had cookouts at family reunions. 

Yours truly spent the morning and early part of Saturday afternoon of US Memorial Day weekend with roughly 60 or so people -- many of them well past their 50s -- honoring fallen American soldiers. 

It was my honor to attend the 236th Anniversary commemoration of the Battle of the Waxhaws, also better known locally as Buford's Massacre, sponsored by the South Carolina Society Sons of the American Revolution.  

God blessed us with good weather as we showed our respect to the men being honored that morning -- the Virginian soldiers of Colonel Abraham Buford's command that were mercilessly slaughtered in a largely one-sided 15 minute battle on that site on the afternoon of Monday, May 29, 1780 by the British Legion under the command of Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton. At the site of the battle 84 of the 113 Continentals killed on the battlefield are buried in a mass grave.

Perhaps one of the most touching moments of the service was the scattering of Virginian soil on the mass grave by two descendants of a Virginian Continental soldier buried at the site. A reminder that our shared Southern heritage and the love we hold for those who came before us runs deep.

The following are some of the great photos I managed to get that day before my camera died -- I kinda forgot to take spare batteries, but luckily the ones I had survived till the end of the service.

The site of the Battle of the Waxhaws was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1990 and is maintained today by the good work of the Friends of Buford Massacre Battleground...which this blogger is proudly a member.

The site of the battle and the mass grave are located 9 miles east of Lancaster, SC, at the corner of SC 9 and Rt. 522 in Lancaster County.

Night Sky Photography - 05-21/22-2016 - Blue Moon & Bright Mars

Threatening storm clouds almost prevented me from getting some really good shots of the beautiful planetary events this weekend. Thankfully breaks in the cloud cover allowed me to get some outstanding photos after dusk both days.

The first one on Saturday, May 21st, was a great shot of the Blue Moon with the bright red Mars one day away from opposition. 

A Blue Moon does not mean that the moon itself turns blue in color. The term itself has two meanings. 

The first - and most popular in recent years - has been the second of two full moons in the same calendar month. 

The second - which more accurately fits the Blue Moon of May 21st - refers to the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. This kind of Blue Moon occurs about once every 2.7 years.

The older meaning defines a Blue Moon as the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. This kind of Blue Moon occurs about every 2.7 years. - See more at: http://www.space.com/15455-blue-moon.html#sthash.tNx6H5kl.dpuf

The older meaning defines a Blue Moon as the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. This kind of Blue Moon occurs about every 2.7 years. - See more at: http://www.space.com/15455-blue-moon.html#sthash.tNx6H5kl.dpuf

The older meaning defines a Blue Moon as the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. This kind of Blue Moon occurs about every 2.7 years. - See more at: http://www.space.com/15455-blue-moon.html#sthash.tNx6H5kl.dpuf

The Blue Moon of Saturday, May 21st rose just after 8:50 PM with the bright red planet Mars close beside it. An absolutely beautiful meeting in the heavens appeared in the eastern sky between threatening storm clouds just after dusk. 

On Sunday, May 22nd, Mars reached its opposition in Earth's night sky for the first time in over two years. It's the brightest that the Red Planet has appeared so brightly in the sky in just over 10 years because the Earth has passed between it and the sun in our smaller orbit. Hence the term: opposition. 

Martian oppositions are not the same. This is because Mars has an oblong orbit that carries the Red Planet about 26 million miles closer to the sun at perihelion (the nearest point in its orbit) than when it swings out to aphelion (the farthest point). Extra-close oppositions only occur when we go between Mars and the sun around the time Mars is closest to the sun along it's orbit. This year, Mars is closer to Earth than it has been since the opposition of November 7, 2005. Super-close oppositions of Mars only occur in periods of 15 to 17 year intervals. The last super-close Martian opposition happened on August 28, 2003, and the next one will not occur until July 27, 2018.

This year's Martian opposition puts the Red Planet at a distance of just under 47 million miles from Earth. Mars will be the closest in orbit with Earth on May 30th of this month when it will pass within 46 million miles. 

The following is the shot I managed to get of Mars in opposition just after moonrise. Little Saturn (by distance rather than actual size) can also be seen just above the treeline between Luna and the bright shinning red Mars. 

God willing if the late spring weather holds out and keeps the night showers and thunderstorms at bay, I will try to get a photo of Mars when it reaches its closest point to Earth at the end of the month.