My Old Friends

Last night I walked out to the mailbox, looked up into the night sky and saw planets and stars, and my old friend, Orion.

I love the night sky and I needed to see it. Orion's belt - and Orion - is only visible in the autumn and winter. Orion is comprised of Beteguese, Rigel, Bellatrix, Mintaka, Alnilam, Alnitak and Saiph - also known as Alpha Orionis, Beta Orionis, Gamma Orionis, Delta Orionis, Epsilon Orionis, Zeta Orionis and Kappa Orionis. The middle "star" of Orion is not a star but really the Orion Nebula.

I love Orion and I whispered, "Hello, Orion, my old friend." I've been looking up into the night sky for years seeing Orion rise in the autumn and set in the late winter. And of course, there are always planets to see as well as the constellations - Jupiter is delightfully visible and has been for months. Venus will reappear as the Evening Star in a couple of months.

In my lifetime I've seen a total solar eclipse, a partial solar eclipse, Halley's Comet, Hale-Bopp Comet, the breakup of Shoemaker-Levy 9, almost all of the planets (eight of them, and since I would agree that Pluto is not a planet but a Kuiper Belt object, that is okay), multiple lunar eclipses - total and partial, and the first transit of Venus across the Sun on 6 June 2004. The next one will be 6 June 2012, and intend to see that one, too. I have a high-power telescope and a Sun filter so I was able to watch it. I've seen sunspots and Mercury. There is nothing like astronomy to bring out the magic. I believe in the Universe. God has nothing on the Universe.

The transit of Venus last occurred 121.5 years prior to 2004's transit. Every transit has a gap of exactly 8 years, then doesn't occur for 105.5 or 121.5 years. The last transit was December 1882. Transits of Mercury happen much more frequently, 7, 13 or 33 years apart. Transits of Mercury are visible in May or November and the next one will be 9 May 2016, UTC (we are UTC-5).

2017 will be the next time there is a full solar eclipse visible in North America, and not in Hawaii - for reasons passing understanding, solar eclipses always seem to happen in some god-forsaken place. This will be a nice change. I may have to get a flight to southern Ohio or Indiana, where the best totality will be.

We need to have one in New Jersey!

Comments

Kittie Howard said…
OMG, what planet have I been on...loved your info, the photo, every bit...you've really seen a lot...did you see where there might be liquid diamonds on Jupiter?? The universie is amazing!
29 January 2010 at 21:52
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