Watch the sky!
I say “Watch the sky!” not in a The Thing or Independence Day kind of way. I’m not expecting an alien invasion any time soon. No, I’m saying it because 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy — with all sorts of events planned throughout the world.
The International Year of Astronomy website has lots of information about what they’re planning for the year. And here’s their general spiel about it:
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is a global effort initiated by the International Astronomical Union and UNESCO to help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day- and night-time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery.
High ideals and I don’t know how that can be accomplished but I will try to watch the sky more myself and I hope you will too.
New Years’ Eve, we worked until after midnight getting the zines up. Then, a bit wired, we decided to walk down to the mailbox (1/4 mile away). It was cold and windy so we really bundled up. Woo hoo it was cold. But all bundled up it wasn’t back except for the bits without covering like my eyes and cheeks. Yeah, I grew up in Maine, but I’ve lived in Maryland enough years to make me a cold-weather wimp.
What I remember most, other than the cold, is that after we came out of the trees on our property, our neighbor has trees on one side of the dirt road and big fields and her house on the other side. The sky was pitch black with no clouds at all — might have been wisps but I didn’t notice them. Orion was so bright and sharp you could easily follow his belt stars up to the Seven Sisters. Hyperion picked out constellations for me and I swear with the naked eye you could see the difference between a blue and a red star. Jupiter was so bright that at first I thought it might be the North Star. We stood and just marveled how beautiful the sky was and wasn’t it too bad that the best viewing was so late at night when all the ambient lights of houses, cars, whatever are out. It’s a sight I won’t forget — it’s one of those moments in life that make a memory to be cherished.
So that’s why a saw “Watch the Sky!” Make your own memories of beautiful star-filled skies. Perhaps you might want to wait until it’s a bit warmer — but still — look up in wonder now and then. Find a book and learn one or two of the constellations. Make it a family project. Or just enjoy a quite moment of contemplation.