Planets in the Sky
I saw six entirely different planets today. With my eyes.
Then the other one brought his telescope round and we looked at four of them close-up. Because Mercury had set by then and looking at earth through a telescope is kind of dumb.
The telescope also let us see five whole moons (we never did find Titan). Luna is very nearly full, so we couldn't look at her too much - I had an afterimage fairly well burned into my right eye. But we managed to see Io even though she was trying to hide behind Jupiter, and the other three were out in full force!
We also checked out the Pleiades and the Orion Nebula. The sky certainly is full of stars. And planets!
I don't think I had ever actually seen Mercury before. That was exciting. Mercury is just past farthest elongation - that is, its highest point in the sky (farthest from the sun), and was pretty optimally placed. (Look for it in line with Jupiter and Venus, close to the horizon around 7:00).
Mars is also pretty optimally placed - about a day past opposition and therefore "full" - about a fist behind the full moon. This was the first time I'd seen it through a telescope. It's definitely a planet!
Anyway, it was all extremely cool and caused me to miss dinner. But it was worth it for:
Six Naked Eye Planets
Five Magnified Moons
Four Far-off Worlds
Three Chocolate Cupcakes
Two Cups of Tea
And a sweet love with a telescope!
G'night my happies!
Then the other one brought his telescope round and we looked at four of them close-up. Because Mercury had set by then and looking at earth through a telescope is kind of dumb.
The telescope also let us see five whole moons (we never did find Titan). Luna is very nearly full, so we couldn't look at her too much - I had an afterimage fairly well burned into my right eye. But we managed to see Io even though she was trying to hide behind Jupiter, and the other three were out in full force!
We also checked out the Pleiades and the Orion Nebula. The sky certainly is full of stars. And planets!
I don't think I had ever actually seen Mercury before. That was exciting. Mercury is just past farthest elongation - that is, its highest point in the sky (farthest from the sun), and was pretty optimally placed. (Look for it in line with Jupiter and Venus, close to the horizon around 7:00).
Mars is also pretty optimally placed - about a day past opposition and therefore "full" - about a fist behind the full moon. This was the first time I'd seen it through a telescope. It's definitely a planet!
Anyway, it was all extremely cool and caused me to miss dinner. But it was worth it for:
Six Naked Eye Planets
Five Magnified Moons
Four Far-off Worlds
Three Chocolate Cupcakes
Two Cups of Tea
And a sweet love with a telescope!
G'night my happies!