Planet Round-Up time!
There are at least seven pesky planets moseying around up there.
Let's go find them.
First, let's track down and check off the planets that we will
have the toughest time seeing because of that big bright plasma
ball up there, namely, our sun.
You can just plain forget about seeing Neptune and Uranus. Both
of those giant planets are on the opposite side of the sun and will
not orbit around fast enough to see well anytime this month. Tiny
Mercury is hiding behind the sun now, too.
There are two other star players also near the sun now. But they
are not so close to our star that we cannot find them ---- if we
know where to look.
Jupiter, because of our own speedy orbit, appears to be slipping
closer to and behind the sun this month. Catch him now in the west
after sunset; the Big Guy won't return until later in March in a
new role as a "morning star."
Venus, that speedster, is whipping around the sun now at a good
clip and is trying to pass Jupiter in the skies, going the other
way, from our point of view. You will have a tough time seeing
Venus this week because our sister planet is still so close to the
sun, but by next week she will pull away and be easy to spot.
Ready for a challenge? Go out Sunday just 15 minutes after
sunset and look towards where the sun has just set. There you will
see two "stars." That would be Jupiter and Venus, a sight that is
pretty enough all by itself. If you look carefully just to the
"right" of the two, you may see the faintest hint of the thinnest
crescent moon. A thin crescent moon with a side of planets: What a
So where is our other neighbor, our little buddy Mars? Mars,
unlike Venus and Jupiter, is on the opposite side of the sky as the
sun. So as the sun sets in the west, Mars is rising over in the
east. It is relatively easy to see: It is pinkish and a couple of
times brighter than any star near it.
Saturn is the only planet left. Like Mars, Saturn is on the same
side of the sun as we. It will be rising in the 9 o'clock hour this
week. Over the next weeks and months, it will rise earlier and
earlier, making it a better and better find as time go by.
However, because of unfortunate combinations of orbits and tilts,
we are seeing the rings almost edge-on this year. That kind of
takes away from their beauty.
But hey, it's still Saturn, a handsome planet even with
Contact Mark Ritter at email@example.com.