Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Conjunction in the sky (there are great big terrible giants in the sky...)

A text from Nena said for me to look up at the moon. I thought it would simply be a larger than normal full moon, and it took me a little over 30 minutes to head outside to see what all the fuss was about. I looked and was taken aback, there was a crescent moon, and two bright lights above it. I knew enough that they weren't stars, but planets. But which ones?? I rushed back to the computer and started googling, I also started to send texts to Nena and friends who might know. I knew the brightest light would be Venus, she normally appears shiny in the heavens, so it was expected. But my initial thought that the second planet was Mercury was wrong. I was more thrilled to find out it was Jupiter! How wonderful! It may be the biggest planet, but I suppose being further away it didn't cast as strong a reflection as the goddess of love.
Looking up at that sight, going back and forth between sky gazing and the living room for answers and furious texts to friends and family (telling the young uns to get up from their butts and look outside), I recall special moments when the evening sky, filled with stars, the occasional shooting star, makes everything else in life seem small and shallow. Last night, with the moon and the planets smiling down on us (those of us closer to the equator and in the southern hemisphere had the blessing of a smiley face; the folks north saw a downturned moon), I couldn't help but feel a rush of positive emotions. Forget wars, economic downturns, man made disasters for a few moments, look up!

5 comments:

bearbricklove.com said...

My brother called it the celestial smiley. Beautiful! And the song on your blog – love it! Thanks for sharing! :-)

Marvin said...

I actually did glance up at the moon and saw those two stars last night while I was driving somewhere, but sadly I was preoccumpied with other things and didn't really take the time to appreciate the view. I knew there was something strange about those two stars, and I even remember thinking last night, "hmmm, that's kinda weird," and then I went about my business. I hope that wasn't a one time thing. I'll take a look again tonight, and hopefully i can appreciate it then.

Watergirl said...

Hi Ariel, it was a gorgeous sight. The song was sort of serendipitous as well, came along with the Slide application, and just worked out perfectly.

Hey Marvin, it might still be visible for another night. Hope your evening sky is clear. Check out earthsky.org for more information about moon/planet conjunctions. It will happen again next year, but some years it isn't as visible.

Manggy said...

Yahrr! I missed this one. I hope it's still around tonight :( (And that I remember, sigh.)
You gotta tell me your Fully Booked story!! :)

Watergirl said...

Ok Marc, you make the lemon coffee cake, I'll make some nice long jing cha (tea) to go with it and we'll dish about bookstores and horrible service!

Pike Market Peonies

Pike Market Peonies