Astronomy Day

Super Moon.       9/27/2015 dwm photo

  "Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and leads us from this world to another."  -  Plato

  Venus is the brightest light in the sky prior to sunrise as it gleams brightly from its perch in the southeastern sky.

  The bright lights and reflective planets creates a sense of wonder and puts us in our place as small pieces of the universe.

  International Astronomy Day is the keystone of Astronomy week which promotes sky-gazing and astronomy to the general public.

While it would be nice to look through a telescope, there is a lot you can see on a clear night deep in the countryside where street lights don't obscure your view of the heavens.  I recall a couple of times out in the country on a clear night there were so many stars in the sky it was impossible to even guess how many were on display.

Hobbs Observatory is located in the Beaver Creek Reserve near Fall Creek, Wisconsin not far from where we lived between 1993 and 2005.  The observatory was open to the public one Saturday night each month during the winter for a presentation and the opportunity to look through their telescope.

One clear night we could look 940 million miles to see Saturn and its distinctive ring, that was very cool.  Usually we can't see many details with the naked eye, if we're lucky we might see a meteor shower; an orbiting satellite; or the International Space Station... whatever catches your eye, I hope you look with your inner-child's sense of wonder.