St Peter's Parish News
Thursday 1 January 1970
The Moon and Venus over St Peter’s
Just days before the Feast of the Epiphany, we were treated to a spectacular display in the heavens as the planet Venus crossed the sky close (from our point of view) to the new moon, amid the Quadrantid meteor shower. Venus, the second planet in the Solar System, has an average distance from Earth of 25 million miles (41 million km). Depending on its orbital position, it may appear as an extremely bright object before sunrise or after sunset. Venus has the ancient poetic name of the “Morning Star”, and features in Philipp Nicolai’s 1597 Lutheran hymn, “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” (NEH 27):
How brightly shines the Morning Star!
The nations see and hail afar
The Light in Judah shining.
Thou David’s son of Jacob’s race,
The Bridegroom, and the King of grace,
For thee our hearts are pining!
