When You Turn 75

The Beatles did a song called “When I’m 64” asking if that certain someone would still love them and care for them at that age. Well, I’m not to that age yet, but I am planning on doing something on my 75th birthday -- and you might want to consider it as well. Give me a minute to explain a few things and then I’ll fill you in.

Hopefully most of you know about the North Star. It is in a constellation called The Little Dipper. Do you know how to locate the North Star? First you locate the constellation The Big Dipper (it looks like a pot with a handle). You follow an imaginary line from the two stars on the far side of the pot up and you will find the North Star. The Astronomy Picture of the Day Web site has a great picture showing this. If you roll you mouse over the image then you’ll see what I’m trying to explain.

The Big Dipper is part of a much larger constellation called Ursa Major (the Great Bear). If you want to see what Ursa Major looks like, go to this Web site. The stars that make up much of the Big Dipper are 75 light years from Earth. Therefore, if you look at the Big Dipper on your 75th birthday, you will see what those stars really looked like on the day that you were born.

Everybody needs something nice to look forward to.