Saturday, December 31, 2011

Jupiter


Just wanting to say i made an error last week.
I am looking up to the heavens again.
For Christmas i got the stargazing calender from Stan Shadick. As i have been out of touch with the stars for a while it needs some practice to get into again, and like HTD says, we move so fast...

Anyway the evening star i look at every night, high in the Southern sky is Jupiter!

Venus,who i will search for tonight, is more to the West.

And as we are talking stars now, every morning when i visit the outhouse, which is open to the sky, right in front of me is Leo, my own constellation.
Now on January 3, according to Stan, there is Meteor shower to the left of Leo. i think. Stan says after midnight, below the handle of the Big Dipper, in Bootes.

The after midnight thing, i think is for Eastern Canadians.....so in the early morning i will just look for Bootes, which i will find by looking at Leo, going up towards the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) and from there following the handle (to the left) towards Bootes. Which i hope to recognize as such. Voila! falling stars called the Quadrantid meteor shower.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

In consonance with many recent posts I shall gaze skyward with the hope of seeing the Quadrantid meteor shower. Will seeing them bring me good fortune?

Fossils you asked about are slightly north of abandoned coal mine at Carmacks. Its well worth the trip, particularly if you are in the area alhtough you may have to walk in- road was previosuly open right to the site. Its best to know where to go because an undergound coal fire still burns at the old mining site.

There are fossil ferns and recently a natural mural of Ginkgos (misspelled earlier). There is only one modern variety of this eloquent plant which lived 100's of millions of years ago.

Very profound and it makes me think that there is synchronicity in the relationship between Jupiter, a planet, the stars on a cold winter night and fissil Ginkgos.

Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance and that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner.

Hmm, the light from many stars is ancient, travelling to us from the past over incomprehensible distances.

Lets continue to work away at this concept and the synchronicity involved to find something which is profound.

HDT

Anonymous said...

Still crazy after all these years- Paul Simon

Still searching after all these years- most people and myself?

Jozien I find I am responding a little too quickly and frequently to your posts and plan to give you more space and breathing room.

After a little contemplation, there is a profound connection between Ginkgos found in rock faces in the Yukon and the starlight from some stars which is just now reaching our eyes after travelling for 200 million years. Hmm, the light which was created when the exquisite Ginkgos were alive is just now twinkling in our starry northern sky.

I have asked a few astronomers to provide some familiar star's names which may perfectly complete this synchronicity.

In the meantime I will be stopping by RF's woods- with the new year upon me I have miles and miles to go before I sleep.

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Robert Frost


hdt

Angela Wheelock said...

Hi Jozien,
Ah, I miss those northern skies! And the view from your outhouse is magnificent. I'm out of touch with the stars too. I remember in Grade 8 that we memorized many of the constellations and now I can only remember a few. In the city, it is so easy to get out of touch with the beauty of the natural world. I do try and keep track of the moon and whether it is waxing or waning.

Thank you for another beautiful posting.
Angela

Jos said...

Happy New Year Joz !!!!

I love meteor showers and am a massive fan of star gazing in general. Something about looking up makes me feel my place in the universe. I know for some people they say it makes them feel too small. Well we are small! I like that.

I've found the easiest way of finding my way around the stars is to use a planisphere. I end up giving mine away and will happily send you one if you want to try it.

xx Jos