Signs and portents

So on April 26th was a neat conjunction of the new moon, Mercury, and the Pleiades. Being the closet geek I am, I made everyone come with me to find a dark enough, high enough place to view it (since we live in a valley with lots of streetlights). We got the kids ready for bed and then packed them in the car.

Miriam all set for stargazing!

We didn't have to drive too far -- about a mile or two away was a neighborhood park with a good view of the horizon. We let the kids run around while Mr. Pickles & I tried to take pictures.

Joseph found a nice, nasty straw to entertain himself.


A lovely view of the new moon right after sunset.

It was a wonderful evening: clear and cool, with birds chirping sleepily in the trees and bats swooping overhead mysteriously.

In this shot you can see the moon with earthshine, and Mercury below it, right next to the tree. You'll need to click on the image to see it clearly. Unfortunately, it never got dark enough for us to see the Pleiades -- we do live in the city after all -- but I had never held out much hope that we would. I tried taking some longer exposures, hoping that they would show up, but I didn't bring the tripod. I tried balancing the camera on the top of the van, but still this is the best I got:

It didn't help that the children kept bouncing around inside. :)

Still, it was a fun evening. The girls were properly impressed with how beautiful the moon was, and the fact that they could see another planet. It was also fun watching the stars come out one by one. Miriam was very excited when she discovered the first one!

I hope that moments like this will stay with our kids. I just want to instill in them a sense of wonder for this beautiful, totally cool world God gave us. Life means so much more when you walk through it with your eyes, and heart, open.