Space.com: Why settle for a planet or two when you can catch all of them in just one night of intense skywatching?
Tonight (Aug. 23) and for a brief period in early September, that feat is surprisingly doable for people living in midnorthern latitudes like the U.S. All you need is a little planning and cooperative weather. And you don’t even need to sacrifice a whole night’s sleep.
“You can see the majority of the sky on any night of the year if you stay up all night long, so only having to stay up half the night is kind of a treat,” Irene Pease, vice president of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York, told Space.com. “It’s cool to be able to say that you’ve seen all of the planets, but then to have the street cred to be able to say, ‘Oh, I saw them all in one night,’ is just a kind of neat bucket-list thing.”
First, pick a date. While the planets are aligning well through early September, the brightness of the full moon, which peaks on Aug. 26, will make skywatching on the surrounding nights more challenging. Sky and Telescope recommends trying to catch the planets before Aug. 24 or between Aug. 30 and Sept. 9.
For Pease, Mercury is always the hardest planet to spot because it is so close to the sun. “The trick to Mercury is getting out there before the sun sets and making sure you have a really clear view of the horizon,” Pease said. “Just being able to see that in the glare of the sunset can be kind of tricky.”
But after that, it gets easier. Next come the four particularly bright planets: Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. These four will line up with Venus low in the western sky, Jupiter to the southwest, Saturn to the south and Mars to the southeast. MORE
h/t JR
Will we be able to see where man landed on Mars?
Asking for Sheila Jackson-Lee…
They’re lining up to Make America Great Again, Donald’s on a roll baby.
All dRATS have lined up to suck the teat of Government then leave back hole skid marks on the Constitution.
No way to see the stars for some time to come with all the forest fires in California and other states. Sad.
I’m just not interested in seeing Uranus!
Well I’m glad we got dat out da way…
Right now you can see Mars, Jupiter and Venus just after sunset.
I wish that I could see them all tonight but it’s so darned smoky and hazy up here in the inland NW that I swear we’re living in the first Star Wars movie on the planet Tattooine bright red Sun and all. However the sunrise this morning over Flathead Lake in Montana was quite spectacular with the Sun glowing bright red coming up over the lake. We kinda wonder what happened to our beautiful bright Sunny days with crystal clear blue skies up here right now.
Can’t see shit here.
Tuesday: southern BC is the same way.
Goldendle Observatory should be on every parent’s list. It is closed for renovation through July1,2019. Largest publicly accessible telescopes in the US and it is free. Goldendle Wa. The scope will be spectacular with the new mirror, not that it wasn’t already something kids remember their whole life.