Syzygy of the Sun, Moon and Earth
Ok admit it… you really want to know what syzygy means don't you? No I didn't make it up, it actually has something to do with astronomy! When the sun, Earth and the moon or another planet all happen to line up in a straight line we call that a syzygy (pronounced "siz-i-jee"). To be honest I had never heard this before until I stumbled upon a website of random astronomy facts, and this was one of them! Syzygys (syzygies?) occur during a lunar or solar eclipse, and when Mercury or Venus crosses in front of the sun from Earth's point of view. Sometimes syzygy is used to describe a strange formation of the planets, such as when they are all on the same side of the sun. According to Google it's also the name of a few restaurants, a Japanese band, and a type of god in the Gnosticism belief system. I think next time something astronomically cool happens I'm going to give it a fun name and see if it sticks….
Image credit: NASA
