A smiling face in the sky!

In late November, I noticed two bright beautiful stars up in the night sky. “ Probably satellites,” I conceded as the sight was really unusual, I thought.

You can therefore imagine the excitement when the following internet news entitled “Spectacular Sky Scene DEC 1 Monday Evening” from SPACE.com came through last November 28! Allow me to share portions of that article here.  

“Every once in a while, something will appear in the night sky that will attract the attention of even those who normally don’t bother looking up. It’s likely to be that way on Monday evening, Dec. 1. A slender crescent moon, just 15-percent illuminated, will appear in very close proximity to the two brightest planets in our sky, Venus and Jupiter.”

And not only did the 2 planets and the crescent moon appear together in the night sky, on the evening of December 1, the three formed a smiling face out there for all to see and to behold!!! That’s right, from where we were in Cebu City, we clearly saw Venus and Jupiter playfully aligned to form the eyes, while the crescent moon moved closer to provide the smile on what appeared to all who witnessed that spectacular evening show as a smiling face in the night sky!!!

And the rare heavenly spectacle became the subject of many texts, emails and conversations that night and the following days! Apparently, those in Pasig and elsewhere in Manila, saw the same smiling face in the night sky!!!

According to the internet article from SPACE.com, “ Venus has adorned the southwestern twilight sky since late August. No other star or planet can come close to matching Venus in brilliance…This winter, Venus is the unrivaled evening star that will soar from excellent to magnificent prominence in the southwest at nightfall. The interval by which it follows the Sun will increase from nearly three hours on Dec. 1 to almost four hours by Jan. 1. It’s probably the first “star” you’ll see coming out after sunset. In fact, if the air is very clear and the sky a good, deep blue, try looking for Venus shortly before sunset.”

“Jupiter starts December just above Venus and is moving in the opposite direction, dropping progressively lower each evening. By month’s end Jupiter meets up with another planet – Mercury – but by then Jupiter is also descending deep into the glow of sunset. In January, Jupiter will be too close to the Sun to see; it’s in conjunction with the Sun on Jan. 24.”

“A very close conjunction of the crescent moon and a bright star or planet can be an awe-inspiring naked-eye spectacle. The English poet, critic and philosopher, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) used just such a celestial sight as an ominous portent in his epic, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” In addition, there are juxtaposed crescent moon and star symbols that have appeared on the flags of many nations, including Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia, Algeria, Mauritania, and Tunisia.”

“Keep in mind that this head-turning display of three celestial objects crowded together will be merely an illusion of perspective: the moon will be only about 251,400 miles (403,900 km) from Earth, while Venus is nearly 371 times farther away, at 93.2 million miles (149.67 million km). Meanwhile, Jupiter is almost 2,150 times farther away than our natural satellite at 540.3 million miles (869.0 million km). “

The night sky was cloudy last December 2 and so the smiling face in the heavens was nowhere in sight but who knows what other cosmic spectacles you may chance to see when you scan the evening sky this month?

Don’t miss these awesome advent cosmic spectacles. Start looking up! Who knows, despite the darkness and the uncertainty, the heavens may light up and display more beautiful spectacles to herald and remind all of the Lord’s birth and presence in our lives!!!

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