Planetary Alignment

I went out this morning to get my paper and remembered to look up at the Southern sky to see the five planets in alignment. One, two, three, four…wait a minute there is supposed to be five. I moved to the middle of the street and recounted. Yep there they were, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter nicely lined up. Mercury the first one is barely there as it is still low but I found them all. I felt like shouting to my neighbors, “Get up! Come see the planets and count with me” but I resisted. Instead I went back into my house and thought about how much fun it would be to get my sharpie out and connect the dots across the heavens.  The aligned five planets are visible for the first time in almost a decade and if you haven’t yet braved getting up early to go out and see them, I encourage you to do so.

If the thought of getting up in the cold wee hours of the morning isn’t your thing, they will be visible again August 13^th – August 19^th and that leaves plenty of time to prepare a library display on the planets. Perhaps libraries could work this into their summer reading programs and end with an early morning planet viewing finishing off with juice/coffee and donuts. Calling it ‘Pastries and Planets’ could help with the turnout. Now for the fun part of designing a reading list. Here are my suggestions of favorite planetary books, what are yours?

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Campbell (series)

Tom Corbet, Space Cadet by Carey Rockwell (series)

Rocket Ship Galileo by Robert A. Heinlein

Red Planet by Robert A. Heinlein

Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein

Have Space Suit Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov

Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis

That Hidden Strength by C.S. Lewis

Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells