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| Planets amongst the stars |
I don’t know how many of you have gone out on a clear night and were
completely awed by the amazing night sky. I know I have and I do it all year
round. It never ceases to amaze me how wonderfully beautiful it is.
Heavenly Bliss
I started stargazing when I was in junior high school with our science
teachers Mr. Smith and Mr. Bowman. We had a stargazers club and we would all
meet at the school on a clear night and go to the football practice field to
start with, then we also met at the reservoir out in the country and wow now that was
spectacular view. Those of us that were fortunate to have telescopes would share
with the group to see Jupiter and Mars. This memory was like yesterday and it was so
cool and so bright out there. Those days have carried over into today and I
still love to take in the beauty of the heavens. Right now Orion is just to the
right of my driveway. Taurus the Bull is above Orion to the right. The
brightest star in March is Sirius and it is just to the left of Orion’s
belt.
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| Orion |
This month is a great month to stargaze because you can see Jupiter and
Mars once again. But they do not hold the show, Venus is one of the brightest
planets out this time of the year. If you look very carefully you can see Mars the red planet just below and a bit to the left and lower than the Moon. Right
now you can see Jupiter and Saturn also and they starting to align with one another
and by the end of the month then Mars will be passing Jupiter and Saturn. The Moon
also will be joining this trio of planets in alignment just below them on March
18th.
I have such a great view of the stars and planets from my hill and I
have a special bench in the yard I can go out to and lay on, under this vast canopy
of the universe. There is nothing more beautiful to be thankful for.
In this month we will also see the worm moon which is our full moon for March.
It falls on March 9th and it will be a super moon. The Indians believed this was when the ground
softened up and the worms became abundant once again and the Robins and other
bird returned to snatch them up. Soon new sprouts would be popping out of the
ground and then they knew it was time for rebirth and spring had finally arrived
waking the winter’s slumber. Thus we know it as the Worm Moon. Some folk may
also call it the Chaste Moon, Storm Moon, Seed Moon, Moon of Winds, Plow Moon, or Lenten
Moon among others. In any case we know that spring is finally upon us and we
can start to rejoice in the rebirth of all things. This moon is the last moon before
the spring equinox which can take place on March 19, 20, or 21 or there about.
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| Worm Moon |
On the 28th of this month you will be able to see the Pleiades
or the seven sisters. This is truly a great month to get out and gaze at the brilliant
lights in the sky. Get the kids involved
and the grandkids they will love it and you can make it a special outing for
the whole family. It can be a month to month thing as the skies move over you and change with the seasons. Enjoy
God’s beautiful heavenly expanse and give thanks that we live in such a
wonderful world.
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| Seven sisters or Pleiades |
Quote of the
day:
Owl of the hollow tree, speaking mysteriously, when the Moon’s phantom
light makes my dim chamber bright. –Dorothea Maria Ogilvy, Scottish poet (1823–95)
Scripture of
the day:
Genesis 1:14 Then God said: “Let there be luminaries in the expanse of
the heavens to make a division between the day and the night, and they will
serve as signs for seasons and for days and years. 15 They will serve as luminaries
in the expanse of the heavens to shine upon the earth.” And it was so.
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