Look up at the sky....

Picture Coutesy: Google Sky (Note that the picture is almost South facing with West to the right)
As the nights become shorter, it is harder to find time to watch the stars/planets (not that I am complaining about the arrival of spring). Both Mars and Saturn are easy to spot near nightfall, with Mars near Pollux and Castor (Gemini constellation) and Saturn near Regulus (in Leo constellation).

Mars-Pollux-Castor form almost a straight line in Gemini (with Pollux in the middle) and are seen highup in the West. Saturn is also seen high in the South at nightfall.

There are no clouds tonight (I hope) and I might just catch the nightfall on my way back from my run.

Incidently, the star cluster Pleiades (also called M45 or Messier object 45) in constellation Taurus (to your left) appears to have 6 stars in it. It was called as the "7 sisters" (or also called "7 sister-in-laws and one brother-in-law" !!) though really only 6 stars shine brightly. The Talmud refers to about 100 stars in this cluster and Pleiades is now known to have at least 1000 stars.

Pleiades were of course the 7 daughters of Atlas in Greek mythology and they were pictured in the sky as being pursued by Orion. Not surprisingly, the stories about Pleiades vary in different parts of the world.

In the older days, you needed to count atleast 6-7 stars in to qualify for a job on a ship (to be a pirate!). It is interesting to note that several cultures have used this as a test of vision. If your eyesight is 6/5, you might be able to count upto 9-10 with the naked eye.

And it is now time to test my vision.....without my glasses, I mean ;-).