Exciting Times in the Darkness

Yesterday evening as we were driving home from our wonderful Thanksgiving vacation in California, I noticed the great number of stars I could see out the passenger side window as we were in northern Utah between small towns along the I-15. Since much of the area where we live is suffering of late from light pollution, I enjoyed the novelty of seeing the many stars that are for the most part invisible to the naked eye. I could see the Pleiades (Seven Sisters) quite readily and just north of Beaver I asked hubby if he would pull off at the next Ranch Exit where it would be absolutely dark. I thought perhaps we might have a great view of the Milky Way. He obliged and sure enough as we stopped, turned off the headlights and stepped out of our truck there it was spread out over us in wonderful splendor from north to south. Of course it is always up there in our night sky, but neither of us had been able to see it for some time. An added bonus was the crescent moon that was just setting on the western horizon with Venus and Jupiter seemingly very close by, which is another exciting astronomical event which is visible for all to enjoy over the next few days.

I then recalled that a couple of days ago there was a report of a large fireball meteor that was seen falling in the night sky over Seattle and Western Canada...which astronomers are eventually hoping to find remnants of. It was estimated to weigh about 20,000 lbs before it broke up during its fiery descent. That could make a sizable dent in your roof. I am assuming they approximate the weight by the size of the fireball...does anyone know?

Lots of doings in the sky of late...so take a little time out to look up...especially when you happen upon an area where it is dark enough to fully enjoy a rare view of the wonder that surrounds our tiny orb.

"And I will shew wonders in the heavens..." Joel 2:30