"Our means of receiving impressions are absurdly few and our notions of surrounding objects infinitely narrow. With five feeble senses we pretend to comprehend the boundless complex cosmos." Those are the musings of H.P. Lovecraft in the short story From Beyond. With all that cannot be witnessed in the cosmos, maybe it's best to focus on what is in our purview.
Bob King is setting the alarm tonight for a chance to see the Northern Lights. The Aurora is expected from 1am until dawn due to a geomagnetic storm. Another astronomical event to witness tonight is the passing of the International Space Station. It should be easy to spot in the northern sky over the Northland from 9:27-9:30pm.
Next week, on July 30th there will be a planetary alignment with the crescent moon, Jupiter, Mars and the bright star Aldebaran. The four will come together to create a trapezoidal shape in the sky. We can also expect another storm with the Southern Delta Aquarius meteor shower that will peak on July 31st. Spectators can expect up to 15 meteors per hour during this shower.
So, gaze at the cosmos and enjoy what you can... and don't worry too much about the Lovecraftian imaginings that remain beyond our realm of understanding.
You can hear Astro Bob's Backyard Astronomy every other Tuesday at 8:20am on Northland Morning.
