The Night Sky
28/02/12 05:49
Early Saturday evening we were visiting friends and as we went out to the car we were treated with a spectacular view of the crescent moon and Venus in the evening sky. It was a clear night and I remembered that the third bright light in the same vicinity was another planet, but had forgotten for the moment which one. A quick check after arriving at home revealed that the beautiful formation was Venus and Jupiter making an appearance in the sky along with the moon. Those who had a good view of the sky a bit earlier, just after the sun set, might have also gotten a glimpse of Mercury setting along with the bright trio appearing above.
We’ve got a winter storm moving in, so star gazing hasn’t been in the picture for us for the last couple of nights. I didn’t get an opportunity to go out with my camera to try to capture the beautiful vision. The way that the hill and the trees rise to the west of our home made getting a picture probably out of the question anyway. I’m not too good with taking night pictures. My photo archives have lots of images with tiny lights in fields of black. The people who capture the kind of images that accompany today’s blog have more patience, more experience and more knowledge than I.
But I do have an appreciation for the night sky.
We are fortunate to live in a place where we can go out on our deck and look up to see the stars overhead. Our neighborhood does not have commercial streetlights. The smaller post lights that most of us have contribute a bit to light pollution, but don’t pose a significant threat to stargazing. We have one neighbor, a convenience store about a quarter of a mile around the hill, that has gotten carried away with bright lights, but hopefully it will be a while before too many others feel a need to light up too much of the neighborhood.
Years ago, when we worked as managers of a church camp that was far from town in the mountains of Montana, I developed a sense of being at home in the dark. When we had a time with no campers, we wouldn’t turn on any of the yard lights. Our eyes would quickly adjust to the darkness and we would be able to see whatever we needed by moonlight. On nights when clouds obscured the sky, there was an awesome blackness that surrounded us. The area was safe. About the only critter that might pose a bit of a danger was an occasional bear that wandered through and the bears were as afraid of us as we were of them. They didn’t move about when it was very dark, either.
It always surprised me how afraid of the dark many of the campers were. There was no need for them to go out in the dark alone. We had good yard lights to illuminate the paths between the cabins. The program of the camp was based on group activities and times to be alone where scheduled during the day when it was easy to keep track of all of the campers.
There was one pattern that I often noticed. After a day’s work, when vespers were completed and the campers were in their cabins and lights out had occurred there would occasionally be an individual or a couple who would try to sneak off for a private moment. We liked to sit in our cabin with all of the lights off, which made it easy for us to see what was going on all around the camp. We’d sit and watch and when a worried counselor would come by we almost always were able to tell them exactly where the “missing” camper was. They never wandered far.
There was one counselor that came to camp who was very proud of his bright flashlight that took 4 D batteries, had a long handle and threw out a beam. He would wander around the camp with the flashlight, shining it into the dark places and looking for whatever it was that he thought he might find. Sitting in our dark cabin, he was easy to spot wherever he went. The problem with a good bright light in a very dark place is that your eyes adjust to the light and you can see only in the direction that the light is shining. All else seems even darker than if the light were turned off. Most nights I didn’t need a flashlight to see. And with no flashlight, I could see into the shadows and wasn’t startled by the darkness around me. I still love to go for a night hike in the woods, though I do make a few extra precautions now that we have mountain lions for neighbors.
The glory of the night is in the sky. On a clear night it is easy to see why the ancients imagined a huge dome hanging over the earth filled with stars. People have seen the incredible beauty that we witness for thousands and thousands of years. The ancient poems of our people speak of the beauty of the night sky: “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast made . . .”
Looking at the night sky can give one important perspective. In the vastness of this great universe, an individual human is a pretty small thing. The great distances of space are far too vast to traverse in a lifetime. The light that we see has covered distances that are beyond our understanding. And yet here we are. On this somewhat insignificant planet, the third from the sun in a rather ordinary solar system in the midst of a normal galaxy, we peer out at the vastness of the universe and ponder the meaning of it all. We may not be unique, but at least in this one place, the universe takes a look at itself and tries to grasp its meaning. We many not understand it all, but at least we are looking and aware that the glory of that which lies beyond is worthy of our contemplation.
I know that the increasing urbanization of the planet means there will be more lights. I know that the need for health care will draw me into cities as I grow older. But I hope that I will always be able to find a dark place in the evening where I can look out and see the night sky. And, if I should one day find myself where there is no such view I hope I will at least remember the beauty of looking up last Saturday night, glimpsing the moon and Venus and the way they took my breath away.
We’ve got a winter storm moving in, so star gazing hasn’t been in the picture for us for the last couple of nights. I didn’t get an opportunity to go out with my camera to try to capture the beautiful vision. The way that the hill and the trees rise to the west of our home made getting a picture probably out of the question anyway. I’m not too good with taking night pictures. My photo archives have lots of images with tiny lights in fields of black. The people who capture the kind of images that accompany today’s blog have more patience, more experience and more knowledge than I.
But I do have an appreciation for the night sky.
We are fortunate to live in a place where we can go out on our deck and look up to see the stars overhead. Our neighborhood does not have commercial streetlights. The smaller post lights that most of us have contribute a bit to light pollution, but don’t pose a significant threat to stargazing. We have one neighbor, a convenience store about a quarter of a mile around the hill, that has gotten carried away with bright lights, but hopefully it will be a while before too many others feel a need to light up too much of the neighborhood.
Years ago, when we worked as managers of a church camp that was far from town in the mountains of Montana, I developed a sense of being at home in the dark. When we had a time with no campers, we wouldn’t turn on any of the yard lights. Our eyes would quickly adjust to the darkness and we would be able to see whatever we needed by moonlight. On nights when clouds obscured the sky, there was an awesome blackness that surrounded us. The area was safe. About the only critter that might pose a bit of a danger was an occasional bear that wandered through and the bears were as afraid of us as we were of them. They didn’t move about when it was very dark, either.
It always surprised me how afraid of the dark many of the campers were. There was no need for them to go out in the dark alone. We had good yard lights to illuminate the paths between the cabins. The program of the camp was based on group activities and times to be alone where scheduled during the day when it was easy to keep track of all of the campers.
There was one pattern that I often noticed. After a day’s work, when vespers were completed and the campers were in their cabins and lights out had occurred there would occasionally be an individual or a couple who would try to sneak off for a private moment. We liked to sit in our cabin with all of the lights off, which made it easy for us to see what was going on all around the camp. We’d sit and watch and when a worried counselor would come by we almost always were able to tell them exactly where the “missing” camper was. They never wandered far.
There was one counselor that came to camp who was very proud of his bright flashlight that took 4 D batteries, had a long handle and threw out a beam. He would wander around the camp with the flashlight, shining it into the dark places and looking for whatever it was that he thought he might find. Sitting in our dark cabin, he was easy to spot wherever he went. The problem with a good bright light in a very dark place is that your eyes adjust to the light and you can see only in the direction that the light is shining. All else seems even darker than if the light were turned off. Most nights I didn’t need a flashlight to see. And with no flashlight, I could see into the shadows and wasn’t startled by the darkness around me. I still love to go for a night hike in the woods, though I do make a few extra precautions now that we have mountain lions for neighbors.
The glory of the night is in the sky. On a clear night it is easy to see why the ancients imagined a huge dome hanging over the earth filled with stars. People have seen the incredible beauty that we witness for thousands and thousands of years. The ancient poems of our people speak of the beauty of the night sky: “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast made . . .”
I know that the increasing urbanization of the planet means there will be more lights. I know that the need for health care will draw me into cities as I grow older. But I hope that I will always be able to find a dark place in the evening where I can look out and see the night sky. And, if I should one day find myself where there is no such view I hope I will at least remember the beauty of looking up last Saturday night, glimpsing the moon and Venus and the way they took my breath away.