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Venus, named after the goddess of love, and a young new crescent moon put on a great light show last night. They looked incredibly close to each other in the night sky. February marks the pinnacle of evening visibility of Venus and last night was its greatest brilliance.

Last night was among the best evenings of the year for novice star gazers. Hopefully you caught a glimpse of it. If not, here’s the next best thing.

(stolen from David Powdrell)

Happy Valentine’s Day.

It was raining really hard yesterday, and when the clouds parted we could see some snow up on the mountains by our house. Taking a chance that it wouldn’t melt quickly, we packed the kids in the car and headed up to Figueroa mountain. There was plenty at the top. We found a nice, level spot where there was lots of untouched snow. Many snowballs were thrown, and the kids made a snowman they named Mr. Angry Eyes.

Snow is such a gift here in Santa Barbara. We only get it once a year in the mountains if we’re lucky, so I’m glad we got a chance to go up this year.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Wishing you love and joy, from our family to yours.

Tonight, Jupiter and Venus are in conjunction in the southwestern sky, and it’s neat to behold. The two planets look like bright stars, unless you know the difference (planets do not ‘twinkle’) and the moon is just a sliver in the night.

Between Venus and Jupiter, Venus is the brighter planet and will remain high up on the skyline all throughout the month of December. Jupiter, on the other hand, will be descending on the western horizon in December. Just before the month ends, we’ll be able to see a fleeting Mercury accompany Jupiter at dusk. Venus will still be visible, but somewhere above the conjunction of Jupiter and Mercury.

The full moon on December 12 will be the closest to Earth since 1993, and won’t be coming this close again until 2016.

Continue reading “The Night Sky.” »