Don't miss the planet parade taking place at the end of March:
Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and Mars are set to align in an arc formation on the nights of March 25 through 30, alongside the Moon.
Jupiter may sink into the sunset and get lost in sunlight after the 28th, though, so aim to see this relatively rare cosmic event by then.
If you want to spot all five planets in one night, timing, dark skies, and a clear view of the horizon are key.
[...] Shortly after the Sun dips below the horizon, look to the west. Low in the sky, where the Sun just set, Jupiter and Mercury will appear side-by-side.
Dwindling sunlight might make them hard to see with the naked eye. So, if you can't spot them at first, try binoculars. Just make sure the Sun is below the horizon so you don't potentially harm your eyes by looking at it through binoculars.
Linked story includes more info and a star map to assist your celestial gaze.
(Score: 3, Informative) by canopic jug on Thursday March 23, @01:06PM
You can also see where and when to look by using Kstars [kde.org] and setting it for your own location and playing with the time settings a little. However, given that Mercury is involved, it'll be really close to sunset if things are visible at all. Filtering by brightness will account for light pollution [darksky.org] and adjust what will be visible through the glow of waste light. Venus will be visible in most places, and Mars and Jupiter in a few more.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by GloomMower on Thursday March 23, @01:26PM (2 children)
I never get this one.
They are always in a arc in the sky. But whatever gets people to be interested in space I guess. You will likely not see Uranus without equipment either. It is technically possible, but is hard and will be difficult to point out.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @02:53PM (1 child)
Came here for the Uranus gags. Was disappointed -1
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @02:04AM
The arc in uranus is too big to put a gag on.
(Score: 3, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Thursday March 23, @02:00PM (3 children)
While a particular event may be rare, there's almost always something going on. It's a combo hunter/blue moon! Or it's a comet. In 1974 there was a lot of fuss over comet Kohoutec. It was going to be the brightest comet ever! Then in 1982, there was all this hoopla over the Jupiter Effect. In 2008 and 2012, we had the Venus solar transits. Just a couple months ago, Jupiter made its closest approach to Earth in 60 years. Solar eclipses happen nearly every year somewhere in the world, and I got a few pictures of the 2017 one across the US, as well as one in the 1970s since they were close enough to where I live that I didn't have to travel. Next year is especially fortituous for me on that. The 2024 eclipse maximum totality will happen almost directly above where I live. Meteor showers are also pretty common.
Still, pretty cool to see all the planets at once. As I learned in 2012, astronomy has really advanced. Now we have many amateurs with quite impressive equipment and the ability and knowledge to livestream the event. Don't need to travel, just hop online and see the event 10 times better than you would when trying with some cheap spotter scope. The best I have is a mere 45x, and I last used it to look at Jupiter when it was so close and bright a few months ago. Managed to pick out the Galilean moons. I'm just not willing to invest big money in more powerful telescopes, even if I didn't live in a huge metroplex heavily light polluted. As it is, the light pollution here is so bad that even Orion of all constellations is difficult to see, and as for the Big Dipper, most nights, no. Can't follow the arc to Arcturus if you can't see the arc.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday March 23, @02:40PM (2 children)
Whoa, there big fella! I'se afraid teh increase in gravitashunal power is gonna pull me off da Earth!
(Oh, i jus' pissed meself again!)
Either that, or this event is gonna Make Earth Great Again.
I'd say Fitty-Fitty on either of those happening....
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @02:55PM
And that is why we leave comedy to the professionals (AC's).
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Thursday March 23, @02:57PM
It's the Age of Aquarius! Maybe. A pity the Age may be cut short, by Nibiru, you know.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @04:48PM (1 child)
I'm always amazed that Mercury was even known to the ancients. I'm turning 55 this month and I've never seen it. Back where I grew up in the DC area, there was a lot of pollution and humidity. We had a good view of the Western horizon, but for much of my childhood I wasn't that interested, still though I had some of my teen years there but then we moved to a location where there was a hill blocking both sides. When I got out on my own and could go places at night, being an adult made me busy, I lost interest in anything other than casual observations like bright comets. Now I've got a lot more leisure time, and an OK view of the Western sky, an obstructed view of the east, and if I really thought I had a chance nobody is stopping me from driving... but I still haven't seen Mercury. Ever.
I guess the ancients, aside from not having our light pollution, also had some observers living near an ocean, or a hill overlooking a plain and they were observant enough.
I'll keep "high elevation of Mercury" in the back of my mind, and maybe one of these days it will gel; but there's always something happening. This can't be that hard a thing to check off on my "bucket list".
(Score: 2) by GloomMower on Thursday March 23, @08:39PM
I've seen Mercury in the Rockies. Yeah just need it to be at a good spot at the right time.
Back in the day if you cared about planet positions to tell the future, I think you'd be looking. You don't need any equipment so all it took is to say, what is that? Last year it wasn't there compared to the other stars, in fact it is different compared to the other stars just the next day even!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Thursday March 23, @05:42PM (1 child)
1. Travel to a different part of the country.
Unfortunately, it seems like any time any cool celestial event is going on, all I get are clouds.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday March 24, @02:31AM
For the Eclipse 79 event in Montana, the day dawned cloudy with occasional rain, and that persisted right up to the moment -- but just as the main event started, the clouds parted and we got a wonderful view of a perfect total eclipse. And literally right after the sun reappeared -- the clouds closed in again and it rained for the rest of the day.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @07:52AM
I already saw Jupiter and Venus together a couple nights the other week. I don't think the Moon is going to help, but we'll see.