Northwest Indiana Discussion

Northwest Indiana's Leading Discussion Forum
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 4:52 pm

All times are UTC - 6 hours




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Planet Triple Play: Saturn, Mars and Venus Appear Together
PostPosted: Thu Jun 03, 2010 5:00 pm 
Offline
Senior Member
User avatar

Joined: Tue Nov 14, 2006 3:10 pm
Posts: 775
Location: The Region
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100603/sc_space/planettripleplaysaturnmarsandvenusappeartogether

Planet Triple Play: Saturn, Mars and Venus Appear Together

Geoff Gaherty
Starry Night Education
SPACE.com geoff Gaherty
starry Night Education
space.com – Thu Jun 3, 9:45 am ET

If you live in the northern hemisphere, go out any night this week an hour or so after sunset and look at the western sky to catch a planetary triple play starring Venus, Saturn and Mars.


The first thing skywatchers will see — weather permitting — is the brilliant planet Venus, slightly north of west, in the constellation Gemini. Look for Gemini's twin first magnitude stars, Pollux and Castor, just above Venus.



As the sky gets darker, the planet Mars can be spotted to Venus' left as it appears in the constellation Leo very close to the bright, first magnitude star Regulus. Further still to the left will be Saturn shining in the western part of the constellation Virgo.


This sky map shows how to spot all three planets as they appear across a 71-degree angle in the night sky. For comparison, your closed fist held at arm's length covers about 5 degrees of arc in the sky.


Venus, Mars and Saturn are all currently appearing slightly north of the ecliptic, the path the sun appears to follow over the year, shown in green in the sky map. [More Mars photos.]


Note the positions of these three planets in relation to the bright background stars, because they are beginning an interesting journey which you will be able to follow over the next two months.


In early July, Venus will have moved rapidly to the left, crossing Cancer into Leo so that now it is next to the star Regulus. Mars, meanwhile, will have moved somewhat to the left. Saturn appears to have hardly moved at all.


By then, the three planets will now cover only 37 degrees in the sky, only half the spread they showed in early June.


A month after this, in the first week of August, the planets will be crowded into a 7-degree angle, and Mars will now be to the left of Saturn in Virgo. Venus, too, will have moved into Virgo.


All three will fit comfortably in the viewing field of a small pair of binoculars.


By August, Venus will still be brilliant, but both Saturn and Mars will have faded so that they just barely reach first magnitude. That's because Saturn and Mars are getting farther away from Earth, while Venus is getting closer.


From the southern hemisphere, the planets will appear in the same positions relative to each other, but the ecliptic will be almost vertical, and the planets arrayed one above the other, rather than forming an oblique angle with the horizon.


This will be a fine opportunity to observe the relative motion of three bright planets against a well marked background of stars, and to see the very different speeds at which they move: Venus traversing four constellations and Mars two, with Saturn hardly moving at all.

Gallery — Venus Seen From Around the World
Beginner Astrophotography Telescopes
More Night Sky Features from Starry Night Education

This article was provided to SPACE.com by Starry Night Education, the leader in space science curriculum solutions.

Original Story: Planet Triple Play: Saturn, Mars and Venus Appear Together
SPACE.com offers rich and compelling content about space science, travel and exploration as well as astronomy, technology, business news and more. The site boasts a variety of popular features including our space image of the day and other space pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, sign up for our free newsletters and register for our RSS Feeds today!


Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook
Related Searches:
night sky
northern hemisphere
southern hemisphere

_________________

When the government fears the People, that is Liberty.
When the People fear the Government, that is tyranny."
~ Thomas Jefferson
...................................
HOW TO FIX 2011 - REPEAT 1776


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 

All times are UTC - 6 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group