When the planets aligned

Wish on a star and keep wishing

ICYMI

• Parking for Pensacola Mardi Gras parades will be strictly enforced and harder to find

• Gene Hackman and his wife test negative for carbon monoxide after mysteriously found dead

• What Is Hantavirus? Gene Hackman’s Wife Died From Rodent-Transmitted Illness

A Night Among the Stars

I just wanted to be somewhere to see the planetary alignment called the “parade of planets”— Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

There are three telescopes at the Chabot Observatory Deck but the lines for viewing had grown too long for me to see any of them. For the planetary alignment, there were a few scientists on hand with laptops explaining nebula and pointing to the stars with lasers from the ground.

Most of the people there had apps on their phone to point out constellations and formations and do what the scientists were there to do. I don’t blame the scientists for not being able to share their knowledge of the night sky.

One of the scientists only had a moment to answer questions before people wandered off in fear of losing their place in line to see the next telescope. Staying in line was more important. Then they were approached by someone else asking another question. The wonder that they were supposed to experience may not have even been a consideration.

I only made it to one telescope because there were so many people waiting in line. I stood in line for two hours and looked through one before deciding to sit on a bench to look up at the sky. I wandered to the back where three girls were giggling and stared at the sky once more before heading home.

Once I wandered away from the crowd to where the giggling was coming from, I got to experience the wonder of what was supposed to happen. I just wanted to look for a shooting star what I got was spending another night staring at the stars with my own two eyes.