Friday, February 5, 2010

While Juno's Away, Jupiter Will Play...

Coming into mid February you will be able to see (at least those of you in the Northern Hemisphere) a meeting between Jupiter and Venus (planets, that is).  All you need to find it is to look west/southwest.  If you are directionally challenged, no need to break out a compass.  Just go out and look at where the sun sets.  That is west.  If you are facing the sunset, just turn a little to the left.  Now you should be able to see two really bright stars.  Which do you think is which? 



The brighter of the two is Venus.  See how beautiful it shines?  That is why it was named after the goddess of beauty.  For that matter, many cultures named this planet after their goddess of beauty.  Even Judaism and Christianity got into the game when Lucifer was described before the fall as being so beautiful he was the bright morning star, which would have been Venus.  Of course, right now we see Venus at night, btu just hold a bit and you'll see the bright morning star in the morning again before you know it.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the head's up!

Although, I have to say that your "planets, that is" qualifier really bummed me out.

Jon said...

I stumbled up this blog, and I gotta say, I'm loving this. Keep it up! Plus, I'm a huge fan of the "Bubo Fett" You should check out my blog, it's just starting, but you can expect some pretty cool things.
-Jon

Mark Alford said...

Peyton, I'll keep a look out for when the real deal becomes visible.

Jon, nice image of Cthulhu on your site. I'll be checking in on the site to see how it progresses. Being a Geek Dork myself, I'm sure I'll love it.