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posted by mrpg on Tuesday January 31 2017, @09:48AM   Printer-friendly
from the the-cosmic-ballet-goes-on dept.

You won't have to get out your telescopes to see Mars, Venus and the moon put on a show, Jan. 31.

The three celestial objects will be exceptionally close to each other on Tuesday night in a rare celestial treat called a conjunction.

[...] Kief says the best time to watch the conjunction is after sunset, starting at 8 p.m. PT. [Editor's Note: UTC-8]

He says to identify Venus, look for the glowing object that has a red and yellow tinge to it. Venus will shine slightly brighter than Mars, since it's closer to the Earth. Mars has an orange and red tinge to it.

And remember, if the celestial object you're looking at twinkles, it's probably not a planet.


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  • (Score: 2) by gawdonblue on Tuesday January 31 2017, @10:53AM

    by gawdonblue (412) on Tuesday January 31 2017, @10:53AM (#461145)

    :(

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  • (Score: 2) by Unixnut on Tuesday January 31 2017, @11:43AM

    by Unixnut (5779) on Tuesday January 31 2017, @11:43AM (#461155)

    Aaah, you must live in the UK. The one place where you are pretty much guaranteed to have a cloudy day if some interesting astronomical event is happening.

    If Chile is an astronomers heaven, the UK is like an astronomers hell.

  • (Score: 2) by canopic jug on Tuesday January 31 2017, @02:23PM

    by canopic jug (3949) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 31 2017, @02:23PM (#461203) Journal
    You can always look at a simulation in kstars. Even if it's not cloudy, you can use it to orient and preview the best observation times.
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