Stellar Summit

May 13, 2011 | Nature, Yoga practices | 1 comment

Today’s wake-up was at 5 am. Hey, we’re semi-retired, living in the country. Why would anyone wake up at that time if they didn’t have to? For an adventure, of course.
Way before sunrise, rugged up to the eyeballs, we headed out to the beach on Mitchells Island. Even as the car headed in that direction, we saw the objects of our expedition: the brilliant convergence of Jupiter, Venus, Mercury and Mars in the northeastern sky.
You know how amazing Venus looks in the early morning. Well, Jupiter and Mercury were a luminous match, especially in conditions near perfect visibility. (Not a lot of light pollution in our little hamlet.) Mars was fainter but still visible to the naked eye.
How special was our viewing? This particular astronomicalĀ configuration is unlikely to occur again before 2040. I felt very privileged and rather awestruck to witness such a rare heavenly sight.
The planets will be lining up for the rest of the month of May, if you’ve missed them.
Home before sunrise, I had plenty of time for my yoga practice šŸ™‚

Rare: Seen in the early morning over Sydney, Venus (centre) is joined by evening fixture Jupiter (left), as well as Mercury (right) and Mars (bottom) in convergence unlikely to occur again before 2040

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1 Comment

  1. How wonderful living in the country. The updates you write are so enjoyable. I have recently read the Australian novel called Jasper Jones – great chapter in there about digging holes. Tania x

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