Daniel Pope

There was something special trailing that Total Solar Eclipse on July 11. Our Sun emerged from our Moon’s shadow with an extra beam of Sunshine – Molly. She arrived here on July 14 for our daughter Lydia and her husband Steve.

My best description of our night sky when Molly was born: About 30 minutes after watching our Sun set in the west tiny Mercury appeared in the twilight just above where our Sun had disappeared. Just a hand-span to Mercury’s upper left, along the Ecliptic, brilliant Venus, the so called “evening star” beamed like an airplane’s landing light. Just below Venus was a beautiful slight crescent of our 3 day-old Moon. Using the distance from my little finger to my index finger along the Ecliptic I spotted the small “ruby” that was Mars. Less than the width of my fist farther along the Ecliptic brought me to majestic Saturn, our most distant naked eye planet.

I record here the Zodiac constellations that were visible that night. Mercury was very near the Beehive in Cancer, the Crab. Venus was just east of regal Regulus in Leo the Lion. Mars and Saturn were halfway between Leo and the next constellation Virgo, the Maiden, anchored by the bright star Spica. Next in the circle was Libra the Scales of Justice followed by Scorpius the Scorpion with bright red Antares for its heart. By midnight Sagittarius the Archer was as high above our southern horizon as it is going to get. It is here that I marvel at the fact that we can see in our night sky how our Solar System is orientated within or relative to our home galaxy the Milky Way. I let my eyes sweep back and forth along the arc of the Ecliptic: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, and Sagittarius. Next I turn to the north and look high overhead to find Cygnus the Swan flying south along the main disk of our Milky Way galaxy. The main disk grows wider and brighter as it gets to Sagittarius. Here is the great intersection in our sky. The intersection of the plane of our Solar System and the plane of our Milky Way galaxy! What a sight and how exciting it is to know what we are seeing, to know what it is! It is not perpendicular but they do intersect at a very steep angle. It certainly gets my attention as I work to orient myself in the larger picture.

I gaze around the rest of the sky, the so impressive Big Dipper high in the northwest, bright Arcturus in Bootes high in the west, Hercules also directly overhead with a foot on Draco’s head, Vega in Lyra, nearby Altair in Aquila farther to the east, the Great Summer Triangle of Vega, Deneb, and Altair, Cepheus, the King, Cassiopeia, the Queen in the northeast, and of course Polaris our North Star with the Little Dipper. I had to wait until after midnight to see mighty and bright Jupiter rising from the east. A beautiful night, Molly!

For you, the gentle lights of love,

the knowing someone who cares,

With windowed lamps to welcome you,

A nightlight on the stairs.

For you, a fire on the hearth

and warmth of candlelight;

For you, a star left twinkling

to guide you through the night.

For you, a yellow daisy,

reflection from the Sun;

A golden dawn to wake you,

the glow of sharing fun.

And ribbons from the rainbow

to hold you in their arc,

because the specialness that’s you

will always light the dark.

– To a Dear Daughter: The Gift of Light by Virginia Covey Boswell.

It is my hope that Molly will not identify with famous essayist Thomas Carlyle’s lament, “Why did not somebody teach me the constellations, and make me at home in the starry heavens, which are always overhead, and which I don’t half know to this day?”

Clear skies.