Such a lovely planetary visual I awoke to witness: EarthSky morning!
Right there before me in the chill pre-dawn of April 25, 2016,
the waning gibbous moon resembling a creamy teardrop in the dark blue sky.
Just below her, to the left, SATURN! Twinkling and sparkling life, 890.7 million miles away
Further down and to the right of the moon, tiny little MARS! in her cold and finite glory
225 million miles from Gaia in a blink*blink, flashing wave to me.
Next, Antares! The heart of Scorpius – no WONDER I’m awake! I have 5 planets in Scorpio!
Antares, with her bright reddish hue at 60,000 times the energy of our sun and 604 light years from Earth, lay beneath Mars and just slightly left in my view, exactly as the EarthSky picture displayed for us.
To observe all of this standing in the park in the midst of trees, grass, and the still ocean air, I celebrate the grandeur of the universe and all she shares. Thank you northern California Pacific Coast for keeping the fog far out at sea to allow me this peek into the cosmos this morning. What an exquisite way to begin another week.
