A Celestial Event and a Bat-Signal

I hope you were all able to see the event but other than my mentioning it this morning in my View From Beyond the Gate, I was just learning about the incredible happenings out in our solar system. Jupiter and Saturn a hanging out together and in a pretty spectacular manner…hopefully you saw it or can catch it in the next few days as the event diminishes.

Anyway, I take a look at my experience with the Christmas Star and I keep moving forward with my re-read of The Rook which I am enjoying quite a bit.

Christmas Star

Yesterday I rambled on about Star Wars and the fictitious galaxy far, far away. Today I take a look at something a bit closer to home, and one more real…our solar system and the Christmas Star.

A few years ago I was able to participate in observing the Venus Transit of the Sun and it was a really cool experience. This year we’ve got another incredible, once-in-a-lifetime celestial event called the Great Solstice Conjunction, or the Christmas Star, the Double Planet, or the Great Conjunction…whatever they want to call it, it’s impressive.

In this event, the planets Jupiter and Saturn will not only be close in the sky but they’ll also be as close as they’ll be in a long time out in the solar system. They’ll appear so close that some have dubbed the event a ‘double planet’, but when I looked at it, I could early see the two planets. And that was with my naked eye.

Binoculars or a telescope would provide a better view, but you can clearly see the two planets next to each other if you look hard enough. A quick glance shows the two planets forming the ‘Christmas Star’ that some have said might be related to the star of Bethlehem that leads the three wise men to the manger.

In any case, these Great Conjunctions between Saturn and Jupiter happen every 20 years but this one represents the closest the two planets will be to each other since the time of Galileo back in the 17th century.

This is truly a grand event and I am glad to have been able to see it.

You can see the planets close to each other for the next week or so but the night of 12/21 was supposed to be the best show.

Interrogation and Education

Maybe not as impressive as a celestial event but Chapters 8 and 9 of The Rook move things along well and give us some insight into what we can expect in the rest of the book.

As we head into chapter 8 we’ve had a surprising interrogation and learned a bunch about how Thomas (the previous Myfanwy) grew up at the Estate. This chapter provides a glimpse into what was ferreted out in the questioning and then we see the ‘bat signal’ go out to call for a meeting of the Checquy court. And an emergency meeting is just the start as Chapter 9 gives detailed reasons for our super-powered hero to be afraid. With forethought, Thomas provided documents for Myfanwy that give a rundown on who the Grafters are and what they did to England the last time they were around. Things are definitely going to get interesting.

It’s a Wrap

Good reading and incredible celestial experiences certainly make for a good day and I’d say I had a great one today. Hopefully, your day was as good as mine.

Ramble #556 2020.04.09| A Celestial Event and a Bat Signal