Last night Dakota and I were feeling a bit restless cooped up in the dorms. Since we (or rather, I) couldn't really leave, we decided to walk around campus and get some fresh air. It was a beautiful evening...not too hot, not too cold, not too humid. After a short walk and some failed attempts at some handstands (don't even ask...I don't know either) we ended up laying on the asphalt on the basketball court and looking at the stars.
While we were laying there, we noticed a particularly bright light in the sky that was moving. At first we thought it was a plane, but it was moving too slowly and irregularly to be a plane. Our next guess was that it might be a shooting star, but the way it was moving was just so odd. So of course I jumped to conclusions and suggested that it was a UFO. And then I remembered that I have an Android which has an app on it (Google Sky Maps) that allows you to point your phone in any direction and it will map out all of the stars, planets and constellations that are there. It's incredibly awesome.
Turns out it was the star Arcturus, and after doing some research we read that it often appears to be moving. We also learned that it's waaaaay bigger and brighter than the sun. It was actually pretty interesting, if not quite as interesting as a UFO would've been.
Space is honestly such a fascinating thing to me. I need to start stargazing more often. Dakota's parents have a telescope we might be able to borrow, so I think we just might add it to our list of hobbies. Google Sky Maps doesn't hurt either. Seeing all of the planets, constellations, and galaxies....and knowing that there is so much more out there that we don't know about makes me feel so small and insignificant. It's a crazy feeling. Who knows...maybe someday I'll spot a UFO.
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