Since about March 20 and for another few days, if you live in the northern latitudes and look in the evening sky about 45 minutes after sunset, you can see a rare occurrence with the naked eye: The alignment of five of the planets of our Solar System; Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. This is unusual because Mercury is so close to the Sun that it never gets very far above the horizon, and always only near dawn or dusk.
If you miss out seeing the five planet alignment this time around, you should be able to see it again from late December 2004 through early January 2005, but then it will be in the morning sky. (This means in order to observe the phenomenon you will have to get up before dawn!) Otherwise you will have to wait another 32 years for such an occurrence in the evening sky.
Last evening, A. and I took the opportunity to find Mercury and observe this exquisite five planet panorama and I would encourage everyone to do the same. Even if you are not normally an amateur astronomer, finding the planets isn't too difficult. A clear sky and a pair of binoculars are the most helpful and recommended ways to locate the planets. After you find the planets in the binoculars, seeing them with the naked eye is a piece of cake.
No comments:
Post a Comment