Kiss My Knits!

Nana and Grandpa’s Christmas present. If you know anything about Emily and her love of the stars, you know this is a good gift. This is a great time for it too, because Venus has been very high and bright in the sky early in the evening, when Em’s still awake. Em was able to see it, then got cold and came in, but afterward Steve and I were able to fiddle with the focus until we could observe that it was half full. Very cool.

I’m hopeful that at some point we’ll be able to take it somewhere dark and she can see the Orion Nebula and various other nifty phenomena. In a couple of weeks, the moon’s going to be very well situated for viewing, so we’re hoping she’ll be able to spy some nice craters.

If you’re looking for astronomical software for your desktop, permit me (and Mr. Tvini, who discovered it) to recommend Stellarium. We’re really enjoying this software.

When my mother and I last went to Pennsylvania, we drove up the back roads, well away from the lights of town. She pointed out Cassiopeia as the constellation she could most easily recognize. Because of that, I’ve made sure to teach that one to Emily. I didn’t know if she’d recognize it in the actual night sky, since we live in the midst of the city lights and it’s tough to see the stars in detail.

Last weekend when we were heading home from my in-laws, it was night. I pointed out that we could see a lot of stars if we looked up through the windows.

“Look, there’s Cassiopeia!” she said. And she was right.

I’m so glad that her love of the stars is being fostered by so many people in her life.