Grey is a Color Too!

1/1/05 – 1/7/06

By C. Zaitz

I was looking at the bottoms of clouds again today thinking, “what on earth can I talk about in the sky?” I was uninspired by the endless days of grey we’ve had. All the beautiful sights of planets, constellations and the moon have been blocked by the Michigan Wall of Clouds. But as I was driving in the car one day, I noticed that there were so many colors in that sky of grey. I detected some pink, blue and even a little violet. All of a sudden I wasn’t bored by the clouds anymore. They were full of color and variation, and though I’d have given a lot to see the sun to peek through, I still amused myself by imagining where it was in the sky behind the clouds.

The good news is that the sun has made it through the solstice. (Thanks to all of you who did a solstice dance or lit a candle so that the sun would come back to the northern hemisphere- it seems to have worked!) Of course I’m kidding, but every day the sun will be getting slightly higher in the sky and will be with us about a minute longer each day! Every little bit helps.

There are some excellent websites to peruse while waiting for the skies to clear. NASA has http://wwwghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/GOES/ which will show you some very cool satellite images of cloud cover. It’s a fun site to explore. Here’s a website where you can find sky conditions all over Michigan, http://cleardarksky.com/csk/prov/Michigan_clocks.html. And of course, if you’re curious to see what the sun looks like behind the clouds, you can always surf over to http://www.spaceweather.com.

Clouds will come and go in the long Michigan winter, but during the clear sky moments, there’s much to behold in the cold January sky. Even though she is in a slim crescent phase, Venus still shines brightly in the western twilight sky. She’s sinking lower every day, however, so don’t miss the opportunity to catch a glimpse this week. Mars will be shining his pale peach light just northeast of the tiny cluster of stars called the Pleiades. If you see Mars, look nearby for the “Seven Sisters” glowing like tiny diamonds in the sky. Saturn rises around 7pm and will be in the sky all night long. However, you’ll only find Jupiter, the king of the planets, in the morning sky. Look to the east before sunrise and you’ll see his steady beacon.

And if you wake up and see those grey skies, you can look for colors and shapes in them and think of all the beauty awaiting you behind their curtain.

Until next week, my friends, enjoy the beautiful view!