I was always one of those moms. The kind who reveled in planning birthday parties for my kids, filled with homemade cakes, pinatas and personalized scavenger hunts. These were no ordinary scavenger hunts. There were codes and riddles for the kids to decipher, which led them to clue after clue. And finally, the reward for hard work — a treasure which was well-hidden and worth the toil to get there. The past few months have been reminiscent of those scavenger hunts, in a celestial kind of way. I cannot recall a time when the skies were so active with incredible events. It seems the heavens have been filled with diverse and rare sights. Meteor showers; as many as three planets visible at one time; a comet; the International Space Station, visible for a brief time as it made its way over our area; Starlink; and the piece de resistance… the aurora borealis! Northern Lights visible in southeastern PA! I daresay there was a good bit of sleuthing involved in the quest for these visual feasts. Back in mid-August when we heard that the Northern Lights would be visible for a few days in our area, we got our hopes up high. Researching the right settings for a phone camera at night, we felt ready. We went outside on the first day they would be visible and gazed north-westward. And we saw… a whole lot of clouds! Very disappointing indeed. But not to be deterred, we went out again the next day. And again, gazing in the right area, we saw… nothing. Sky. Stars. Venus, bright in all her glory. But no light display. On a whim, I pointed my phone camera at the sky and snapped a photo. To my utter delight and amazement, the picture was filled with bright reds, purples and greens. It was incredible! What my eyes could not see directly, my camera picked up in detail! I snapped more pictures of different angles — each one was yet another mix of incredible and vibrant colors. Another of my bucket list items was fulfilled. The Northern Lights! I never dreamed I could see them without ever leaving home. September’s super moon. (Terry Alburger) In mid-September, we had the first of three super moons, which means that the moon was closer to the Earth and would appear brighter and larger. It was indeed a sight to behold. Again, my little camera phone captured a decent photo and I was again a happy camper. In October, our skies hosted the Draconid meteor shower. This one eluded me — best viewing times were a bit after my bedtime. But my husband and I did try to go outside in the chilly autumn weather, wrapped in a blanket, several times to no avail. It was the thrill of the hunt, the idea that I could perhaps see some meteors that made it enjoyable. Several other meteor showers occurred in our area recently. Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is visible below the Starlink satellite train. (Terry Alburger) Perhaps my favorite of our celestial quests was in search of the elusive Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in mid-October. News reports said that viewings of this comet were once in a lifetime so we decided this was a quest we could not give up. We waited until after dark and drove around until we found a good viewing spot in a park, away from lights and with no obstacles in our sightline, just above the horizon. Our guide in this quest was the planet Venus, which was bright in the sky. Just to the right of Venus and slightly north was the comet. Very faint in the sky, we thought we saw it so again we snapped pictures. The results? Stunning! Our best photo contained not only Venus and the comet, but also Starlink’s satellite train. We had no idea it would be visible. Imagine our surprise when we reviewed our photos. The moral is that you should definitely keep your chin up, in more ways than one. You never know what joys await you if you just keep your eyes heavenward.