Mars Puts on a Display Tonight

It's not often, I am safely betting, that you look up and take a real look at the night sky and all it holds.

When I was a child, my Dad got his telescope out and taught us about the heavens, shooting stars, the constellations. As I got older and lived in more populated areas, the only place I could really enjoy the stars was our family home in Connecticut. These days, Susquehanna does just fine as a star gazer area, I just have to remember to look up!

Tonight I will. The Earth, Sun and Mars will be nearly perfectly aligned tonight. That means Mars will rise as a burnt orange spot in the sky at sunset and will remain up there all night.

On the 15th, another astronomy wonder begins; the Tetrad and blood moon. That means, there will be 4 lunar eclipses between this year and next. The full "blood" moons are so called because of the orange/reddish hue of the full moon.

Later on this year, in May, we'll get to see quite a show put on by very bright meteors and on August 10th the biggest full moon of the year will be on display.

Even though we have to be adults now, have a little fun and take time to "smell the moon and stars." To find out about other cool astral events in 2014 check out Space.com