The Starry Dance

Did you get a chance to peer out early this morning to see a spectacular event in the easter sky? Jupiter & Venus are converging and were at peek viewing before dawn this morning. However, if you missed it, you will have a chance to see the starry dance again over the next few days. I'm afraid my feeble pictures don't do it justice by any means...sorry, these low res files barely show the stars. Plus, I didn't take them until 7am, so they had already begun to give way to sunrise.

Check out this link @ Space.com or this Nasa link for general info. Also...A few days ago I received an email from Rick Larson, the producer of the DVD: The Star of Bethlemhem. (the one I gave away before Christmas) Here are a few excerpts from his email...

"This event will be impressive from today until about Monday, February 4, with the closest approach of the planets occurring on Friday, February 1. Enjoy! They say "close only counts in horseshoes and kisses". But here's a pretty cool near miss!

For the next few days you can go out in your own yard and see an event similar to the Star of Bethlehem. Depending upon weather (and sleep habits), you may be able to see a close approach of Jupiter and Venus. Great viewing for the next few days.

To see this spectacle, you'll need to look to the eastern sky just before dawn. Depending upon the terrain where you stand, you may first see the paired stars rising in the east around 5.40a. They'll appear later if there are trees or other obstructions on your horizon. The show will continue until the Sun rises and washes everything out around 7.30a. So there's a good viewing window for many of you, even if you're not normally early risers. Do take a look! You'll probably be out of bed by 7 anyway, so go outside!

Now, how does this compare to the Star of Bethlehem? Here are some helpful units, starting with what you already know, but moving to things you probably DON'T know:

A full circle = 360 degrees
Visible sky = around 180 degrees
Width of a finger held at armslength = about 2 degrees
One degree = 60 arcminutes
Resolving power of unaided human eye = about 3 arcminutes
One arcminute = 60 arcseconds

With that background. You'll see this clearly! On February 1, the planets will be separated by around 35 acrminutes. The resolving power of the unaided human eye is about 3 arcminutes, so they will appear very close, but still separable. The 2 BC Star of Bethlehem occurred when the two planets came within about 35 arcSECONDS of one another. About 60 times closer! The two became inseparable by even the best human eyes."

(Thanks to Bee for the NASA link ;-)

The Father / Daughter Talk

Tuesday, after attending our Ladies Bible Study at church, I worked the polls for our state wide election. I love the fact that as Americans, we have the privilege to have a say in our government... at least one vote at a time. This election mainly covered state amendments and tax issues. It reminded me to share with you an email I recently received.

The Father / Daughter talk
A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and was very much in favor of the redistribution of wealth. She was deeply ashamed that her father was a staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more government welfare programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school. Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying. Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"

She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties, and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over."
Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I have worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!"
The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently,
"Welcome to the Republican party."