The night sky is a giant bay window with a great view into our universe, and it’s made for lovers. It can really set the stage for a romantic evening, especially with a full moon.
Unfortunately we don’t quite have a full moon Tuesday night, but it’s almost full, rising in the east around 10 p.m., adding to an evening of stellar romance.
The moon isn’t the only member of the heavens that can add to romance in the night sky. Stars and even planets also make a wonderful night for lovers as well. I’ve enjoyed writing this column for almost 20 years, and I’m not ashamed to say I’m an old romantic at heart, so around Valentine’s Day I love to point out the great signs of love in the night sky.
Early in the evening, even before darkness totally sets in, the extremely bright planet Venus pops out in the southwestern sky. Appropriately enough, Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love. Just to the upper left of Venus is a much fainter planet with a distinctly reddish glow. It’s Mars, named after the Roman god of War.
Another regular in the Valentine evening sky is the bright star Betelgeuse, the second brightest star in Orion the Hunter. Even though it marks one of Orion’s armpits, it has a connection to Valentine’s Day in several ways.
First, Betelgeuse has a reddish hue and reaches its highest point in the sky on Valentine’s at midnight, but its best connection to the holiday created by lovers and helped along by Hallmark cards is that it literally behaves like a giant beating heart, and what a big heart it is. In fact, when you see Betelgeuse in the early evening southeast sky I can safely say that you’re looking at one of the single biggest things you’ve ever seen.
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