A huge 454-pound blue shark was caught during the tenth annual Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament held over the weekend. The shark could be the largest blue ever caught, a world record.
The shark was caught by Pete Bergin of Shrewsbury in his boat Quality Time. Mr. Bergin's boat was one of 65 participating in the Boston Big Game Fishing Club's annual event. Competing boats filled the Oak Bluffs waterfront for most of the weekend. On Friday and Saturday a large number of fish were caught, and even more were released.
A Vineyard recreational fishing boat took the title in the ninth annual Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament held over two days this weekend. Tom Furino of the 34 1/4 foot fishing boat Fish Finder out of Oak Bluffs won the tournament with a catch of two large sharks. On Friday Mr. Furino and his charter crew caught a 320-pound blue shark and on Saturday they caught a 302-pounder of the same species.
The two brightest planets in our night sky appear opposite each other tonight. The brightest of them, Venus, appears just above the western horizon after sunset. Look east at the same time and you’ll see Jupiter just coming up.
Even to the most casual observer these two planets are a sight. We’ve heard a number of inquiries and this is the fun part about autumn. The evening sky and the movement of the planets can catch anyone’s attention.
The Milky Way is a lot easier to find in the autumn than in the summer. You don’t have to hunt for it. If you are outside tonight around 9 p.m. Just look up. The Milky Way is overhead. It crosses through our zenith.
The brightest star overhead is Vega in the constellation Lyra, a small harp. Vega can be your guide. Find Vega and with a little bit of hard looking you will see that the Milky Way cloud passes nearby.
Here’s a proposed expedition every bit as adventurous (but not nearly as brutal) as Capt. Shackleton’s trek across South Georgia Island: Why not sit down with loved ones and plan to attend every last event being staged over the coming weekend — Dec. 11 to Dec. 13 — of the Christmas In Edgartown extravaganza?
Tonight the gibbous moon appears near the bright planet Jupiter. The two are close, only five degrees apart and rising together in the east after sunset. The two aren’t too close, which makes it easy to see. Both are in the zodiacal constellation Capricornus, next to the zodiacal constellation Aquarius.
The moon will be full on Monday, making it the seasonal Harvest Moon, the closest full moon to the first day of autumn.
The Harvest Moon is only two days from the first day of autumn, Wednesday, September 22.
Sunday night the crescent moon shines within a few degrees of Antares, the brightest star in the zodiacal constellation Scorpius. The two appear in the southwestern sky about an hour after sunset and you can watch them for an hour or more before they both set in the west.
On Monday night, the moon advances to first quarter phase and appears in the zodiacal constellation Sagittarius, another southern constellation.
