Those who are single this coming Valentine’s day have reason to believe that the tables are turning in their favor at last. The starry conjunctions are smiling upon us: the mother of Cupid herself will be shining her brightest on February 16, 2017. What a serendipitous time for love!
According to earthsky.org, the planet Venus will be reach her greatest illuminated extent after sunset around 11:00 PM Pacific Standard Time. Those who live in Eastern Standard Time will see it at 2:00 AM on the 17th. Greatest illuminated extent is the astronomical term for when Venus appears at its’ very brightest to the naked eye. Interestingly, this does NOT mean Venus is in full phase if you were to look at her through a pair of binoculars—only about 25 percent of the surface will be illuminated from our point of view. We are currently standing in the point in Venus’ celestial cycle where she swings in between the Earth and the Sun, a cycle that spans roughly between January 12 and June 3.
My expertly calculated notes on this chart below may help assist the layman:
As you can see, Venus at her greatest illuminated extent is not actually her closest point of contact in relation to the Earth—a point called the inferior conjunction (as opposed to her farthest point: the superior conjunction). During the inferior conjunction (marked around March 25th this year) Venus is almost completely invisible to us, having been eclipsed by her own shadow. Venus will only appear this bright halfway between her greatest elongation and the inferior conjunction. The next time Venus appears this bright, it will be in the morning sky, 36 days after the inferior conjunction (approximately April 30th).
The patient observer may have already noticed Venus’ unusual brightness in the night sky of late, just a little down and to the right of the Moon in the lower regions of the Western sky. Positioned slightly higher in the sky is her husband Mars, who, according to some versions of Greek mythology, produced Cupid in a passionate love affair with Venus. Not all the myths agree on the origins of Cupid's paternity, but they are quite certain that Venus is the goddess of love and the mother of Cupid, so it’s no small wonder that she graces our skies during the month of February!
If you meet the love of your life this week, don't forget to take full advantage of this handy Elvish pick-up line: "Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo"--which translated means-- "a star shines upon the hour of our meeting". I mean this guys--there will never be another time when such a phrase will be so appropriate!!
The folks here at Whitworth will likely be too snowed in to see squat on February 16th, but hey, at least you can look up and know that somebody up there is using her mysterious gravitational magic to imbue the forces of love on unsuspecting singles everywhere...
Ah, but what if you don’t believe in all that superstitious nonsense? Well, let me remind you that Spokane was SUNNY on Groundhog Day this year, which, according to legend, promises six more weeks of winter.
And look what’s happened to us.
(Photo cred: my roommate)
