An Amazing Sky

Driving home with the girls tonight, we had the opportunity for an interesting Science Conversation on the Fly. The Techno Geek in me lives for these moments and when my sweetie pointed out the alignment of the moon and Planets in the sky tonight, we all looked on with awe. A beautiful image hanging in the night sky as Venus, Jupiter and the Moon all converged towards one another. A quick search on my iphone as he drove led me to verify which planets they were and other details on the subject. You can read more here.

The moon is the brightest, closest and smallest of the three and is 252,000 miles away. Venus, the second brightest, closest and smallest, is 94 million miles away. And big Jupiter is 540 million miles away.

The three celestial objects come together from time to time, but often they are too close to the sun or unite at a time when they aren't so visible. The next time the three will be as close and visible as this week will be Nov. 18, 2052, according to Jack Horkheimer, director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium.

There is nothing quite like a leisurely drive home surrounded by overly excitable post Black Friday weekend shoppers while having a detailed conversation about the planets.

Its great to let the universe remind us of the more important things. I was also reminded about the upcoming meteor shower expected to begin Dec. 7 and run through the 16th.

Check the schedule here and plan on taking some time to view an amazing event with your families.