Starry Starry Night

Sooooo, Venus and the Moon are hanging out tonight. Here is my not-great pic taken this evening. In real life, there is the added bonus of the earth's shadow and all, so it's perfect. The Maternal Unit and I are both in a funk. MU says, "Wanna go to Annie's?" because Oh Wise Maternal Unit knows how a concrete can get me un-funked. Not all the way to funky, but un-funked. We drive into town. At Annie's a large number of local ammature astronomers had brought out their Rather Serious Telescopes, and a woman was explaining the solar system to some little kids. MU has been gardening all day, so I was elected to go the counter and order the kiddie sized pecan-caramel sundae for her and my blueberry concrete. In this process, I made friends with a Great Dane named Buddha. No lie. Buddha belongs to the sort of people who did not look or dress like the sort who would name a dog that, so bonus. I returned to the car with the ice cream and custard, and MU says this, "While you were gone, a man came to that table where the kids are. And he said, 'Is that a star there by the moon?' The woman said, 'Yes, that's Venus.' So the man asked, 'Well, is it going to hit the moon?!'" My eyebrows do the Spock Arch, but MU assures that his was a question sincere, earnest, and somewhat alarmed in its tone.

,... the minimum distance separating the two will be no more than one-degree (the apparent width of the Moon is roughly one-half degree). Keep in mind that this display will be an illusion of perspective: the Moon will be only about 233,000 miles (375,000 kilometers) from Earth, while Venus is nearly 347 times farther away, at 80.9 million miles (130 million kilometers).

Oh. Yah. Do. I. Ever. Want. His. Carbon. Back. You know, just to tweak it a little.

(and props to Space.com for the Rhime of the Ancient Mariner catch)

Yes, I keep walking outside to look. Again. Again. Again.