Jupiter and Saturn put on quite the Solstice show last month by coming together to form the “Christmas Star” but now Mercury is coming into view, setting the celestial scene for a triple conjunction. The planetary trifecta will be visible at dusk starting tonight through Monday, with NASA saying, “the planet Mercury will appear to […]
Jupiter
North Coast Night Lights: Conjunction – Saturn Overtakes Jupiter
Racing around the sun like slot cars on an elliptical track, Earth was on an inside line and coming around fast. Jupiter and Saturn were in view ahead. Jupiter was taking a much wider line and Saturn was lazily rounding the bend still farther out. Earth would overtake them. Again. The race has been on […]
‘Christmas Star’ in the Sky Tonight
In a year that has seen so much devastation, loss and divisiveness, there is a bright light. Tonight. In the sky. The planetary alignment known as the “Christmas Star” will come to full fruition Dec. 21 as Jupiter and Saturn come together, according to NASA, producing a “vibrant” positioning the likes of which have not […]
North Coast Night Lights: Eel River Overlook
The magic of the night was all around, so very quiet with only the sound of the redwood forest around us sighing in a light breeze and merging with the soft susurrus of the Eel River far below. From a protected hollow high above the river my companions and I looked out over a world […]
North Coast Night Lights: Trinidad Head Under a Full Moon
Last weekend I had the pleasure of showing off Trinidad and Trinidad Head to an old family friend who was visiting from the prairie. Prairie folks don’t often see the edge of the continent, let alone this coastal gem that we have here on the Humboldt shore. Of course, my idea for a tour around […]
North Coast Night Lights: Beach Bonfire, Meteor and Milky Way
The Perseid meteor shower has come and gone, peaking last weekend on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 11 and 12. On the night of the 11th, my brother and I set out to Tepona Point, along Scenic Drive south of Trinidad, hopeful of capturing some of the terrestrial beauty of the North Coast beneath Perseid meteors […]
