5 for 5

Of the other eight (or seven) planets in our solar system, five are visible to the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. This month ALL five are visible in the evening sky, though not quite all at once.

Shortly after sunset (45-90 minutes) Mercury is visible on the western horizon, just above or in the sun’s afterglow. It sets fairly soon thereafter.

Higher in the western sky are Venus and Jupiter. They are up all evening, eventually setting after midnight. As a matter of fact, they are in extremely close conjunction, with the closest approach being tonight, Thursday, March 15. They are about 2-3 moon diameters apart and the brightest objects in the night sky hands down. Venus is the larger, brighter one on the right and Jupiter on the left. During the close conjunction they should be on a nearly horizontal line with each other.

The Sea

Nearly everyone has their issues with the Bible. One of mine has to do with Revelation and the sea. Revelation 21:1 says, “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.”

To me the sea has always held a fascination. I loved to watch the Jacques Cousteau specials on TV in the 70’s when I was a child. Initially, in junior high, I wanted to be a marine biologist, and so on. While space may be the final frontier, I’d say we still have lots to learn about the sea.

When all is said and done and we’re in the new heavens and new earth, the scientist and explorer in me nearly drool over the idea of touring Creation with the Creator as our tour guide. “Core of the Earth? No problem.” “What does Venus really look like? Let’s go!” “Want to free dive the Marianas trench? I’ll race you!” The Xtreme sports will have nothing on us!