Good night, Moon. (with a small buzz kill)

On my drive home tonight I looked up at the moon and saw its brilliance shinning through a thin layer of stratus clouds.  And I had one of those aha! moments which  caused me to almost stop and stare. Then I realized I was driving a car and couldn’t be so impulsive.

I realized that life, more specifically, our vision, is like that view of the moon.  Obstructed. Not 100%.  Hazy. 

Tonight I went to the planetarium up the street from my house.  I love the stars and astronomy and each month, on the first Monday, this planetarium has a lecture on the night sky and telescope viewing.  I learned some interesting things.

1. Humans eyes are made up of cones and rods. (okay, I knew this part already).  The rods are what work to see light in the dark.  But, unlike cones, rods only take in a portion of the spectrum, or black and white.  So, mostly stars look white.  Our eyes are too weak to take in the full spectrum of color, unaided.  Through powerful telescopes, we can see that stars are actually many colors; blue, red, etc.
2. The constellations we know as the “zodiac collection” were created as a way to pass down important life skills from generation to generation.  Because if you needed to know when to plant and hunt, a father wanted to pass that info in a way that his son would most likely remember. Those were not the days of julian calendars and 3G phones.
3. The “dog days” of August came from the Sirius star (the brightest star in the sky and the star in the throat of Canus Major).  When this star was seen in the horizon at sunrise, it was a sign that winter would be coming and it was time to get the final crop in. This stars light is only 8 light years away, making it the closest star (why it’s the brightest)
4. Astronomy is pretty amazing.  Telescopes are pretty fantastic as I could see the craters in the moon tonight through one.
5. Galileo gratefully observed the night sky telescopically first, because he blinded himself by looking at the sun through the telescope later in his life.  Then he was put under house arrest (as an old blind man) because he challenged the scientific belief that earth was the center of the universe. 
6. I was reminded of my desire to see Haileys comet again when I am 80- something(I saw it when I was six but I don’t really remember seeing it so much as I do standing out in the cold with my family), a Wolf moon on a clear night (This past Sunday was a wolf moon, but the impending storm prevented a sighting), the aurora borealis and a really good meteor shower.
7. We (the earth) are imbedded in the Milky Way galaxy. I think I knew this, but it was a good reminder.
8. Time is relative.  I know this is said a lot, especially by scientists. But really, its true. I mean, we have our days, and months and years – all dependant upon the orbits of our solar system, but its truly relative to our earth.  The light that we see from the sun is about 8 minutes old.  The light we see from the moon is about 2 seconds old.  That bright star, Sirius, is 8 light years away.  We are moving at about 700 miles per hour but because everthing on this planet is moving at the same rate, we don’t feel that speed.

All of these things remind me of a favorite scripture in the bible.  1 Corinthians 13:12: “For now we see through a glas, darkly; but then, face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. Contemplate that verse and draw your own parallels and analogies from my 8 learned concepts at the planetarium.

My small buzz kill for the evening – I walked into my house and it smelled like a dead fish. Really nasty and dirty like. (I strongly dislike bad smells) I hope whoever cooked the fish enjoyed it more than the smell that remained. Also, "Bob"** didn’t respond to my text invite. Grr.  No yes or no. No thanks but no thanks.  Just a void. Get it, avoid? That pun is for you dad.

No focus on the negative. I see through a glass darkly.  Meaning, in the morning the house will smell better and I don’t understand men. Oh well. Instead, I leave you with the invitation to check out your night sky.  Currently, Mars is visible at about 3 fists away from the moon, along the zodiac access. It’s looks reddish. A couple winter constellation “friends” you’ll see are O’rien the hunter,  Canis Major.

**names have been changed to preserve the identity of said boy and the pride of this blogs author..