prayer to the bright object in the western sky

[asakiyume]

Walking home from the supermarket in the dark around 6 pm, I saw in the Western sky something brighter and larger than a star but not quite as large as a streetlamp light. Could it be Venus? I wondered. That big? Maybe?

Or would it start moving and reveal itself to be a plane?

Not an asteroid, probably--we'd have heard (or would we???)

So I kept my eyes fixed on it as I walked, saying, Please don't be a plane, please be Venus, please be magnificent morning star evening star Venus, please don't start blinking red or blue lights at me, Please... until I had to turn my back to it.

Just now I searched "bright object western evening sky November"¹ and lo, my prayer was answered:

Throughout November, slowly but surely, Venus is becoming increasingly prominent in the western evening sky. It will become a dominant object calling attention to itself right on through the upcoming winter months.
--Joe Rao,"The Brightest Planets in November's Night Sky: How to See Them (and When)," November 1, 2024, space.com.

¹ Using this nifty page that will do a search without AI results, YESSSS

Comments

[sartorias]

How coolis that?

[asakiyume]

So cool! It was so big and bright, a whole different kind of celestial body than I'm used to. I mean, I've seen Venus in the past, and it's looked big in the past too, but tonight it just seemed extra big. Maybe I had binocular eyes tonight.

[sartorias]

Or the air was extra clear?

[sonia]

I’m so glad your prayer was answered. We need that feeling of living in the good reality, from small things if we can’t have it from big things.

[asakiyume]

Absolutely, and there is lots of that around, in spite of everything, and the joy of that makes us stronger.

[lokifan]

Oh, lovely!

[asakiyume]

^_^

[puddleshark]

Thank you so much for the AI-free search tip!

I just checked the UK sky charts, but Venus is a bit too low on the horizon in the evenings for us to see yet. We'll have to wait until next month.

You can see why, when Venus first starts appearing in the evening sky, there is always a sudden spike in UFO sightings!

[asakiyume]

I really can! It really did look unusual in just that way.

(and you're welcome--I use it all the time)

[ranunculus]

I agree, I saw Venus several days ago and it was really, really bright.

[asakiyume]

A real treat

*

[minoanmiss]

I will try to see Venus (with my poor pitiful eyes)!

Re: *

[asakiyume]

Today is rainy -__- Maybe on Sunday? I think it may clear up by then.

[summersgate]

I saw it a couple weeks ago and I had to look it up too. I had never seen Venus so bright before!

[asakiyume]

So SO bright! So BIG.

[osprey_archer]

That sounds so lovely.

And thank you for the search page without AI results! So far DuckDuckGo hasn't started defaulting to AI results, but it's probably coming.

[asakiyume]

Good to have this in your back pocket in case DuckDuckGo succumbs!

[elusiveat]

Oh, wow! Thanks for sharing.

[asakiyume]

My pleasure!

[amaebi]

May Eros bless you.

[asakiyume]

Thank you--I will accept mysterious kisses from an unseen deity!

[amaebi]

oh dear it didn't occur to me that I was asking that of you :(

[asakiyume]

I didn't particularly think you were--it was the direction my imagination took me in! I didn't mean it to be negative--I find it appealing ^_^

[amaebi]

Whew! Thank you!

[med_cat]

:) I've seen it too, in recent days :)

[asakiyume]

Big, bright sister planet!

[med_cat]

Yes ;) Makes me think of all the older sci-fi stories about it :)