Planetary alignment. ππ«
"The planets are aligned tonight! It's called Planetary Alignment!" The weatherman says, proudly imparting his knowledge. I know what he is thinking: "Does anyone care?" π€π
Tonight, after the sun has set, is the best time to see Jupiter, Pluto Venus, and Mercury. Together with Mars, Saturn, and the Moon in almost a perfect line and all visible to the human eye. πβ¨
At just before sunset, we gather our grandchildren, Fletcher, who is five, Roman, who is eight, and Alfie, who is sixteen. My husband and I set out for the park, the younger children excited that it was turning dark. π¨βπ©βπ§βπ¦π
We installed Sky Walk apps and ones that zoomed and set out with binoculars of various sizes.Excited and hoping for a few surprises. π±π
Everyone gathered and looked to the sky. π€© We were stunned by Mercury and Venus, who seemed the closest to our naked eye. π²β€οΈ
Wow! With the addition of a monocle, we could see both planets clearly. The rings and craters that marked them individually π²π
We took pictures, and everyone talked animatedly. Excited by what they had seen. πΈπ£οΈ
Even our young teen was impressed he took the best picture too. Using his iPhone with a broken screen, he had no need for an app with Zoom. ππΈπ
Thank you Mr Weatherman for making us see the universe through your eyes. This evening was simply one of the bestππβ¨
Planetary alignment was the talk of last week. Every weatherpeson, radio commentator, news reporter mentioned it. For a while it was bigger news than Trump! And we soaked it all in. I was pleased that all the grandchildren were aware and wanted to see it. A lovely, spur of the moment, evening with four of the best people.