Gloria Murawsky, age 8, of Greenfield, Disconsin, for her question:
What exactly are the Morning and Evening Stars?
This, naturally, is the busiest morning of the year. But most of us find time to think of a star, a very special star that shone in the eastern sky about 2,000 years ago. Naturally, you got up early. And maybe you went outdoors to see if the bright miracle just happens to be there again.
You may be surprised to learn that the Morning and Evening Stars are not really stars at all. But don't feel disappointed. They are planets, like the earth. They are children of the sun and members of the sum s family. Compared with the mighty stars, they are very small. But sometimes our brother and sister planets can shine brighter by far than the brightest star in all the heavens. As a rule, this happens when one of the planets happens to be playing the part of the Morning Star or the Evening Star.
Several planets take turns at appearing in these star roles. The Morning Star appears in the eastern sky just before sunrise. If it is as bright as it should be, it shines a little while after the last of the real stars blinks its bright eye shut for the day. The Evening Star is supposed to shine in the western sky at sunset. Its bright eye blinks open before any of the real stars wake up but it soon sinks down in the west and follows the sun to bed.
Venus or Mars, Saturn or Jupiter may play the role of the Morning Star. Later in the year, any one of these planets may be playing the role of the Evening Star. Tonight, the Evening Star is our sister planet Venus. As the sun sets, Venus lights her bright golden lamp rather high in the western sky. It shines for about three hours, then follows the sun to bed.
Today we can spot two Morning Stars as a special treat. The dimmer one is Mars in the eastern sky. The other one is giant Jupiter, which rose several hours ahead of the sun. At dawn it already has climbed high in the southeastern sky, perhaps too high to be counted as a true Morning Star. However, it is shining so big and bright that it seems only fair to give it
the starring role. Certainly it is the last heavenly lamp to blink off after the sun has made all the real stars go to bed. Little Mercury, the baby planet, is so close to the sun that it can hardly be seen. Tonight, a few sharp eyed people may spot it as it sinks down out of sight with the sun. In a few weeks it will rise with the sun and switch to the role of a Morning Star.
The Christmas Star that shone in the east so long ago was not Mars or Jupiter, the planets that shone in the east this morning. It was not Venus or little Mercury that will shine this evening in the west, or Saturn that will appear in the east. Astronomers tell us that the miracle was really a golden comet a very famous comet that appears in our skies only once every 76 years.