Skywatching

I spent a long time watching the sky when I came home tonight, the moons, the clouds, an unusually bright "star". After coming inside and reading the email below, I now know I looking at interesting planetary phenomena. When I was outside, I was having wistful thoughts about wanting to sleep under the "stars".

Here is an excerpt from an email from Monday. September Kathleen forwarded to me from spiritual teacher Peter Berry

CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH JUPITER: Tonight, Earth and Jupiter converge for their closest encounter until 2022. The giant planet will soar overhead at midnight, outshining everything except the Moon itself. At this time, even a small telescope pointed at Jupiter will reveal the planet's moons, cloud belts and swirling storms.

If Jupiter is up at midnight, it must be opposite the sun: diagram. Indeed, astronomers call this "Jupiter's night of opposition."

In a coincidence of interplanetary proportions, Uranus is also at opposition tonight. This rare double opposition of two giant planets is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Unlike Jupiter, Uranus is barely visible to the naked eye, a result of its smaller size and greater distance. It looks great, however, through a small telescope. Just point your optics at Jupiter and you will find emerald Uranus about 1o away.