Tonight's Conditions
The sky showed up for your birthday - it's a good night to look up. Some clouds
are floating around the valley (it's Boise, that happens), but there are plenty of
clear windows between them. More than enough sky to work with. No rain, no snow,
just a light breeze. You're definitely gonna want a jacket though, Kayla -
it's 41°F out there and that gets real after a few minutes.
The Moon
Tonight you've got this gorgeous little crescent moon -
just a tiny sliver hanging in the west like a fingernail clipping made of light.
It dips below the horizon around 9:19 PM, and after that?
The sky gets seriously dark. And that's actually the best part - less moonlight
means way more stars show up. The universe basically turns the dimmer switch
down so you can see the good stuff on your birthday.
Planets
OK this part is cool - three actual planets are out tonight. Not stars.
Whole other worlds, just hanging there in the same sky you're standing under.
♃ Jupiter
This one's easy - it's the brightest thing up there besides the Moon. Look
high in the southeast and you
honestly can't miss it. Fun fact: you could fit 1,300 Earths inside Jupiter.
That's just ridiculous.
♅ Uranus
Sneaky one - it's hanging out right near Jupiter but you'd need binoculars
to actually see it. Just a tiny blue-green dot. Here's the weird thing though:
it spins on its side,
like somebody knocked it over and it just kept going.
Also - it's your birthday, so… somebody's getting a visit from Uranus. 🎂
♄ Saturn
This one's low on the western horizon so you gotta look early before it dips
away. And yes - it really does have rings.
Billions of pieces of ice and rock, just floating around it. Wild.
Bright Stars
So winter is honestly the best time for stargazing - the air is cold and clear, and
some of the brightest stars of the year are out right now. Here's what to look for:
Capella
straight up, almost directly overhead
Aldebaran
orange-ish - the eye of Taurus the bull
Pollux
one of the Gemini twins
Betelgeuse
reddish - a dying giant that could pop any day
Procyon
the "Little Dog Star" (yes really)
Rigel
blue-white - Orion's left foot
Sirius
THE brightest star in the entire sky
Polaris
the North Star - always in the same spot
Oh and definitely look for Orion in the southern sky - three stars
in a perfect little row make his belt. Once you spot it you'll see it every single
night forever, I promise. And nearby there's the Pleiades (people call
them the "Seven Sisters") - they look like a tiny glittery smudge until your eyes
adjust, and then suddenly you can pick out the individual stars. So pretty.
Space Station Passes
OK so this one always blows my mind. The International Space Station
is basically a house-sized science lab flying 250 miles above your head at
17,500 mph. When you see it, it looks like a really bright star just gliding
across the sky - no blinking, totally smooth, kinda eerie. There are six people
living up there right now. And it passes over Boise five times today:
| Time (MST) | How High | Direction | How Long |
| 2:59 AM | high up | SW → SE → ENE | ~11 min |
| 4:36 AM | pretty high | W → NNW → ENE | ~11 min |
| 6:14 AM | lower | WNW → N → ENE | ~10 min |
| 7:51 AM | medium | WNW → NNE → E | ~11 min |
| 9:28 AM | really high | WNW → SW → SE | ~11 min |
The 2:59 AM and 9:28 AM passes are the
real showstoppers - the station will cruise right across the middle of the sky,
super bright. If you're up for either of those, you literally cannot miss it.
Space Weather
The Sun is being pretty mellow today - no big solar storms or anything dramatic
going on. That means no northern lights for Boise tonight
(we'd need to be way farther north for those, or wait for a really big solar event),
but the flip side is everything is calm and stable up there. Just clean, quiet skies
doing their thing for your birthday. I'll take it.
Comets Overhead
So comets are basically giant dirty snowballs tumbling through space - ice and dust
and rock, with tails that glow when they get near the Sun. There are a few above
Boise tonight. The big one is Comet ATLAS - and here's the thing,
it actually broke apart, so now there's a whole little cluster of fragments drifting
together. And then there's 3I/ATLAS - which you actually told me
about, remember? It's bananas because it came from outside our solar system
entirely - like, a visitor from another star system just passing through.
You'd need a telescope for any of these, but honestly? Just knowing they're up
there on your birthday is pretty great.
For You Tonight
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
— Lord Byron
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
— William Wordsworth