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Venus reflected in the Pacific Ocean (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Early one morning (Tuesday to be exact) and before the sun was rising as opposed to the song’s version, just as the sun was rising, actually it was a couple of hours before, I was up and about from my bed. I had difficulty in getting off to sleep at first but it must have been around midnight when I found myself nodding off. I awoke rather abruptly just before five o’clock in order to visit the toilet and whilst there I could hear an owl screeching. On my return to the bedroom I opened the window to gaze into the night sky. The rear of our house is kept in darkness, the only lights being those too far to make much difference. To my right, that is eastward, I could see the brightest object in our skies after the sun and moon, the planet Venus. The thin crescent Moon was too close to the Sun to be seen at that time. Just now Venus is near its maximum brilliance and if it could be seen in complete darkness it would be casting a shadow behind any object it shines upon. There is too much light pollution in towns and cities to be able to see that but out in the countryside away from any artificial lighting Venus, when at its brightest, can cast shadows. To the left of Venus I could see the planet Jupiter which can at times rival the brilliance of Venus though never reaching the same brightness when Venus is at its best. Standing alone Jupiter is a fine object to behold but at the moment it is outshone by Venus. In between the two the planet Mars could be seen too though it was much dimmer than the other two but still very noticeable. Above all three where the stars of the constellation Leo with its brightest star Regulus, far outshone by the nearby Venus. Of course all of the stars if nearer would be so bright as to blot out the planets as they are all ‘suns’ in their own right. There was not a cloud in the sky to spoil the view. About an hour later I was dressed and went out into the garden to look again at the sky before returning indoors for my breakfast. There was a distinct chill in the air, unmistakably Autumnal so I didn’t stay outside too long.
Shirley Anne
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Filed under: Astronomy Tagged: Astronomy, Jupiter, Mars, Night sky, Venus Image may be NSFW.
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