Yesterday Colorado set a record high that hasn't been topped in over 100 years - 80 degrees in November. This was PERFECT for our observation of the planet Mercury's rare transit across the face of the sun. We basked in the sunshine while observing God's GLORIOUS creation. It was amazing when one of the scientists at the Summers-Bausch Observatory told us that the tiny dot of Mercury we saw on the sun (Mercury is about the size of our Earth) would fit 192 times in a line across the face of the sun, which is just an average-size star.
This was a great family activity, and an opportunity to observe God's glorious creation firsthand. We were very grateful to have a place that offered us a free opportunity to observe this through multiple telescopes, a heliostat, and the special instrument you see in the picture above. We also went into the planetarium after viewing the event for a 20-minute presentation by a local scholar.
Our camera batteries died just before we left, so we didn't get to take any pictures for our school blog, but a photojournalist from the Denver Post showed up as we were checking it out, and look - she put this picture on the front page of the Denver section in today's paper - what a great treat!
Next time Mercury will transit the sun and allow this view will be in another 10 years! We thank God for a great family date, perfect weather, a chance to learn together, and to marvel at God's general revelation in the heavens!
The heavens do declare the glory of God!
No comments:
Post a Comment