After dinner, when the sun had fully set, we went outside to see this:
Two of the brightest "naked eye" planets, Jupiter and Venus, are briefly forming a "frowny face" in the sky. The planets are impossible to miss if you can find the moon ... they're so bright that even if you knew nothing about the planetary conjunction, you'd wonder what they were.
I found this interesting: "some historians think that a similar conjunction between Jupiter and Venus in 2 B.C. may be the source of the 'star of Bethlehem' story related in the Bible." Some think that they may have been so close together that they would have melded into one bright light.
What a neat thing to think about as we celebrate this month of preparing for the birth of Jesus.
"... and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him." Matthew 2:9-11
We saw this last night! I thought it was so unusual to be able to see the stars and now I know. I can't wait to tell Victor. He will be so thrilled!
ReplyDeleteI saw those beautiful stars last night as I was driving home. Thanks for the info about them being Jupiter and Venus. It was a lovely sight!
ReplyDeleteOh that is cool. My kids would love to see that!
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