Venus disappears behind the moon in a rare daytime lunar occultation
This week skywatchers across much of the United States witnessed a rare daytime lunar occultation, the moon passing directly in front of Venus and briefly hiding the planet from view. A stunning timelapse captured Venus slipping behind the moon's edge in broad daylight. Such precise celestial alignments are uncommon and a quiet marvel of the clockwork overhead.
"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?"
David wrote this psalm gazing at a night sky with none of our instruments, and it undid him, not only the vastness, but the strange tenderness that the God who set the moon and stars in place would also bother with us. A moment like this week's, the moon sliding precisely across a distant planet, is a reminder of the order and beauty built into the heavens. The wonder of Scripture is not only that God made it all, but that the very hands that placed Venus and the moon are mindful of you. The universe is enormous, and you are not lost in it.
Father, when we look up and feel small, remind us that You are both the maker of the heavens and the One who knows our names. Thank You that the hands that set the stars in place are the hands that hold us. Give us a heart of wonder and worship. Amen.