Day 7: Astronomy Day

Well, dear readers, I was foiled in my attempts at stargazing in honor of Astronomy Day in two ways:
1. I thought Friday was astronomy day. Yeah.
2. On Friday I was in Lancaster City, so even when I tried to stargaze, I couldn't really see much of anything. Fail.

But wait, that's not exactly true; I've noticed something new in the skies over the last couple of days. It's almost like a foggy spot, a tiny space filled with countless tiny stars, and one big one that seems to fade in and out. Megan and I noticed it when we were watching fireworks on her balcony (how romantic!). Then, I saw it again on Saturday night, when I was driving home from West Chester. Has anyone else noticed this anomoly? It reminds me of a birthmark I've seen on a friend's arm: a dark patch skattered with clusters of tiny freckles, with one big, more noticeable one in the middle.

I'm always amazed by photos (like this one) of space. Galaxies and star nurseries and black holes...the universe is so large that I can't even begin to wrap my mind around it. I can't even get a grip on basic astronomy; the only constellations I can locate/identify are Orion and the Big and Little Dippers. On a good day (erm, night), I can find the north star. I would really like to be able to identify most of the major constellations someday, but I think that won't happen until I'm able to take Astronomy 101, or something. But it's a nice goal to aspire to. Especially on Astronomy Day.