I took the dogs out last night before bed, in the chilly air of 15 degrees. I always have my PJs on at that time of night, but I bundle up. I’m never quite sure how long it will take little Lou to go “boom” and to go “to his spot.” But he hates the cold more than I do, I think. And he is usually fairly succinct in getting the job done.
Unless, perhaps, one of two things happens. One. His sister distracts him with some sort of “scent” or “tomfoolery” in which they are both engaged. OR, two, he catches a glimpse of the “unseen monster” who sometimes lurks in the dark out there. In that event, he is back on the porch cowering, hoping to be spared from the monster’s horrible clutches. Ollie is completely self-sufficient and does not need an outdoor guardian.
Most nights though, we are out there, the three of us, braving the cold. I look pretty silly, as I normally do “laps” around the driveway in an attempt to keep warm. Again, the only caveat would be snow, or ice, which can make my little jog more like an alpine adventure.
Anyway. Last night was simply clear and crisp. I looked up, during my makeshift jog, to say hello to the stars and the moon. That’s when I saw it. An extremely bright light in the western sky. I was amazed. At first, I wondered if it was something other than a “stationary fixture” up in those heavens, because of its magnitude and brilliance. Then, I realized it had to be a colossal star, or most likely some planet.
When I went inside, I was distracted and didn’t think to look it up until this morning. I found that Venus is our bright planet in the western sky, and all of us in the northern hemisphere can get a really good look at her right now. Bright.
I also found out that Venus has an eight-year cycle. During that cycle, she orbits the Sun 13 times. And then, within that, she has one year of that cycle where she dominates the “post-sunset night skies” as a brilliant “Evening Star,” and then the “pre-dawn night skies” as a “Morning Star.”
And right now, in that cycle, is where we are. Here in 2020. And if you do the math, you will see that it’s not happened since 2012 and it won’t happen again until 2028. That eight-year cycle.
I also found out that it is having its “greatest eastern elongation.” Which means it’s the highest point above the horizon that a planet appears to reach. As we see it if we are standing down here on Earth. Which we are. Unless we are jogging around on our driveways in full wintertime regalia.
The big high time happens to Venus on March 24, 2020, so until that date the planet will get higher and higher in the night sky, and so be visible for longer and longer after sunset. Happy Twinkling Little Planet. How I wonder where you are.
I love to contemplate the stars, planets, galaxies out there. However, I’ve never been a star-geek. I don’t know Orion from Perseus. I can surely tell you something is a dipper. But I never know if Ursa is being Major or Minor.
And I surely couldn’t sail a boat by the night sky. Heck, I couldn’t sail a boat in broad daylight, so let’s toss that one out.
But you get the picture. Which is what I LIKE to do when I look upward, to those glorious heavens above, so brilliant, and far-reaching. That picture.
And here it is, in the simplest of terms. We are here on little Earth, in our Galaxy, called the Milky Way. There are between 100 and 400 billion stars here, in this galaxy alone. But more impressive yet, there are between 800 billion and 3.2 trillion planets as well.
That, my friends, is in ONE Galaxy.
Now consider that there are 100 billion galaxies in our Universe.
And we silly humans think we are the only ones in existence?
Last night I looked to the western sky and saw a brilliant light, and it reminded me.
Of all there is to wonder.
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“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
― Albert Einstein
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“Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
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“If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.”
― William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
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