View Full Version : Three planets visible
Alligator
12-29-2008, 19:11
I saw three planets visible as the sun set today-Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter. Nice sliver of a moon, might want to take a peak outside or later on. I was checking and I think Saturn will be up later as well. The site said there would be a conjunction of Mercury and Jupiter tomorrow.
warraghiyagey
12-29-2008, 19:16
Gonna have to go check it out. . .
Feral Bill
12-29-2008, 19:29
By the time we get any clear weather here, we'll all be millions of miles along on Earth's orbit.
Gray Blazer
12-29-2008, 20:53
I saw Uranus.
It's interesting to see how they line up and you can see how the sun (which is on the other side of the Earth, of course) reflects upon them. Reminds me of passenger jets lining up on approach at the local airport, but much more awe inspiring.
TrippinBTM
12-29-2008, 23:12
I don't think I've ever seen Mercury...
Alligator
12-29-2008, 23:19
I don't think I've ever seen Mercury...It was only my second time, that was why I posted:sun. I think it usually is near the horizon. I enjoy astronomy but I'm not very serious about it.
http://www.wunderground.com/sky/ShowSky.asp?TheLat=44.38546371&TheLon=-68.21038055&TimeZoneName=America/New_York
There's a time burner for you. Not sure how to reset this for local. It is partway down the page, near moonrise, on my weather page.
"view the full star chart"
http://www.wunderground.com/sky/ShowSky.asp?TheLat=44.38546371&TheLon=-68.21038055&TimeZoneName=America/New_York
There's a time burner for you. Not sure how to reset this for local. It is partway down the page, near moonrise, on my weather page.
"view the full star chart"
Very big thank you....our 14 year old is working on some school project about the constellations....except she lost the sheets...her friends come over to "help" and they mostly sit and chat....
berninbush
12-30-2008, 11:29
I took off from Baltimore airport last night right after sunset. There was still a brilliant afterglow in the west, and the crescent moon was heading westward with two planets in tow. One was very bright and close to the moon... I'm guessing that was Venus? Another fainter one was below them. Not sure which one that was. I couldn't see a third, but I was looking out a plane window.
TrippinBTM
12-30-2008, 11:54
It was only my second time, that was why I posted:sun. I think it usually is near the horizon. I enjoy astronomy but I'm not very serious about it.
I'm the same way. I've looked for it, on occasion, but never consistently. Plus, I rarely have a good view of the horizon, what with buildings and trees in the way.
I read yesterday in National Geographic Magazine that once Venus was so bright in the night sky that it would cast a dim shadow! But light pollution has take that away from us. I think this is part of why I'm so wanting to get out to the desert in Utah and AZ, to see the night as it should be.
Alligator
12-30-2008, 12:40
I took off from Baltimore airport last night right after sunset. There was still a brilliant afterglow in the west, and the crescent moon was heading westward with two planets in tow. One was very bright and close to the moon... I'm guessing that was Venus? Another fainter one was below them. Not sure which one that was. I couldn't see a third, but I was looking out a plane window.The brightest was Venus. When I saw Venus, it was higher in the sky than the moon. At first I thought Jupiter was Mercury, because Jupiter was fairly low on the horizon and not as bright as I would have expected. But then I saw Mercury. It was lower than Jupiter, and not lined up quite like Jupiter, the moon, and Venus were. I'm thinking it was likely Jupiter, but I don't know whether one dropped below the horizon again or not. I glanced out the window later and could only see Venus.
There will be another opportunity this evening.
berninbush
12-30-2008, 14:23
Thanks. What I saw was probably Venus and Jupiter, then. My view may have been too restricted, or too much light still in the sky, to see Mercury. Flying toward the southwest, you get a long and lingering sunset! It really was pretty.
Alligator
12-30-2008, 21:41
Saw these again this evening. Mercury was positioned about 7-8 O'clock from Jupiter.
Bulldawg
12-30-2008, 21:45
Damn, I ain't an astronomer, somebody tell me where to look for these planets???
Alligator
12-30-2008, 21:51
Damn, I ain't an astronomer, somebody tell me where to look for these planets???You'd be missing them tonight, maybe Venus is still up. One of the things I do know is that the planets and the moon are found in the ecclectic, which is a fancy way to say a band. If you can find Venus and the moon, sweep your arm in a line through them. All the planets will be in there. Pluto has an eccentric orbit so I don't know if it falls in there or not and its not a planet anymore anyway:(. Jupiter and Mercury were low towards the horizon at sunset in the ecclectic. Venus, the moon, and Jupiter (from high to low) were in a fairly straight line while Mercury was a bit out of line below Jupiter.
Bulldawg
12-30-2008, 21:54
You'd be missing them tonight, maybe Venus is still up. One of the things I do know is that the planets and the moon are found in the ecclectic, which is a fancy way to say a band. If you can find Venus and the moon, sweep your arm in a line through them. All the planets will be in there. Pluto has an eccentric orbit so I don't know if it falls in there or not and its not a planet anymore anyway:(. Jupiter and Mercury were low towards the horizon at sunset in the ecclectic. Venus, the moon, and Jupiter (from high to low) were in a fairly straight line while Mercury was a bit out of line below Jupiter.
OK, and it is very easy to distinguish the planets from stars??
OK, and it is very easy to distinguish the planets from stars??
Oh yeah, they are BRIGHT like a plane rather than a star. In Atlanta I can't see many stars at all, even on a clear night. They will be near the eastern horizon and one of the first things you'll see at dusk.
Just looked, it's still up, but near the horizon.
Damn, I ain't an astronomer, somebody tell me where to look for these planets???
Look kinda southwest I think, in the direction of the moon at sunset, they'll start shining before the stars begin to show. Don't wait till plumb dark to start looking.
sorry, not east. I should know which direction my freeking house faces, eh?
Bulldawg
12-30-2008, 22:05
OK, just went outside. Just to the east (or left) of the big dipper I see a REALLY bright red looking object, Venus?? Then just below the big dipper I see an extremely bright bluish green looking object, Jupiter??
FWIW, I didn't even see the moon??
OK, just went outside. Just to the east (or left) of the big dipper I see a REALLY bright red looking object, Venus?? Then just below the big dipper I see an extremely bright bluish green looking object, Jupiter??
FWIW, I didn't even see the moon??
You got it, Had you looked a few weeks ago, you would have witnessed the moon smile, with venus and jupiter as the eyes and the crescent moon as the mouth. Only happens every 40 years.
Bulldawg
12-30-2008, 22:15
Just took my 6 year old outside. He saw them and said "You are totally awesome dad!" Thanks guys!!
Alligator
12-30-2008, 22:21
Here's a decent page (http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance) to show this arrangement.
I think I was off a day about the conjunction, that would be tomorrow.
Bulldawg
12-30-2008, 22:24
FWIW we also saw a brief shooting star/meteor when outside the second time, just above Venus.
berninbush
12-30-2008, 22:31
All my life I had never noticed, until an astronomer-friend told me, that the moon rises and sets shortly after the sun when it's a new crescent, and rises at sunset and sets at sunrise when it is full. So if you're looking for a new moon, look just after sunset in the west... it's only up for a little while after the sun, and then it sets too.
I saw a good picture of the "smiley face." That was cool!
Here's a decent page (http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance) to show this arrangement.
I think I was off a day about the conjunction, that would be tomorrow.
Thanks for that link!
As my daughter and I were driving south on I-85 last night, the planets and moon looked exactly like that picture. We were speculating on which planets were which.
I am going to tryto take a photo of it. Tonight???.
BT
TrippinBTM
12-31-2008, 12:53
Just took my 6 year old outside. He saw them and said "You are totally awesome dad!" Thanks guys!!
When I was in the Whites this summer, while out looking at the Milky Way I heard a middle aged man say "I don't think I've ever seen the Milky Way..."
You're a good father, sir.
Oh, and is it the ecclectic, or the elliptic? I thought it was the latter
Alligator
12-31-2008, 13:45
Let's go with ecliptic:datz. But I did say I wasn't the most serious study:sun. My definition probably isn't the best either, when I looked it up (and that was hard because I was spelling it as another word;)) it refers to the apparent path in the sky that the sun travels along. The planets are near that. I've always been more interested in where to find the planets so I that's how I think of it.