A few days ago, I was checking the tides on the Internet for West Falmouth. I visit there frequently in my Whaler and my mom lives there. The site also gives the time of sunset, moonrise, and full moon. I noticed that on Tuesday the time of full moon coincided with the time of sunset and moonrise. All these events were to happen within minutes of each other! This is unusual and I thought it would be fun to share it with friends. I checked the weather and it looked like it might be clear enough to see both moonrise and sunset at the same time.

Another table, from the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, gives the altitude of the sun and moon and the compass heading (azimuth) for 10-minute intervals during a given day. Where the altitude goes to zero, the sun or moon is either rising or setting and you can get the associated azimuth from the table. This tells you what direction to look. In this case, the sun set at 250 degrees and the moon rose at 50 degrees.

So where on the Island can both events be witnessed from the same spot? I’ve seen simultaneous sunsets and moonrises at Wasque and Squibnocket before. I went to Google Earth and — using the ruler tool — I laid out two lines, one at 50 degrees, the other at 250 degrees. This showed that my familiar observation spots would not work — the horizon would be obscured by land. But when I checked the tip of West Chop, I found a clear view in both directions.

It must be sundown somewhere...wait, it’s sundown here. — Sam Low

So just a little before sunset on Tuesday, Lanny McDowell, Sam Low, Nan Bacon, Jim Cardellino and I gathered at the Chop with cameras and essential emoluments to watch the moon replace the sun on opposing horizons. At 17:05 hours (5:05 p.m.), the sun went down over the sound in a beautiful clear sky, but for a while clouds obscured moonrise. Then we saw it — the full moon — through the clouds. A short time later, when the moon was just a few degrees above the horizon, the ferry Martha’s Vineyard sailed into Vineyard Haven.

An Island is a perfect place to observe nature — there’s always a 180-degree vantage point somewhere! You just need a little help from astronomical tables and some hiking boots. It was fun to gather with friends on a peaceful night at the Chop to witness an event that gave us a feeling of where we are in the universe! A quintessential Martha’s Vineyard moment.

David Stanwood is a piano specialist who lives in West Tisbury.