We’ll have to return to observing Virgo in the west night sky and completely switch gears to an early morning observation.
If you haven’t heard yet, there’s a historic planetary lineup taking place but it’s only visible just before dawn. Some are even referring to it as a planet parade because you’ll be able to see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, all with the naked eye!
This is the order they should appear going from east to west. They actually go from east to south but it looks like east to west from the ground. This is special and historical because this is the order of the solar system. The last time they were seen in this order was in 2004.
I recommended getting up one hour before dawn to see them and not earlier than 3:55 a.m. since that’s when Venus rises. For those of us in San Mateo, the sun is rising between 5:47 a.m. and 5:50 a.m., depending on when you’re observing during the week.
So, if there was a time to get outside and Look Up, it’s at around 5 a.m. Sunday or at least one day this week to see the planets across the sky.
Unless you have an unobstructed view of the east, you most likely won’t see Mercury since it’s so close to the horizon. In addition to the planets is the moon. It will be just a sliver and some say that there will be earthshine with it. (That’s when the rest of the moon is lightly illuminated.)
Thursday and Friday were the best mornings to see them but they’re still visible, they’re just getting farther apart as each day passes. Finding the planets should be relatively easy, thanks to the moon. Look for the sliver of the moon and it should be right next to Mercury, Sunday morning.
It will look like a star. In fact, all the planets will look like stars but depending on the planet, it will look bigger or brighter than the rest of the stars, except for Mercury since it’s so small. Then look for the brighter “stars” along the ecliptic path.
What’s even more exciting is Uranus and Pluto are also lined up with the rest of the planets but they can’t be seen with the naked eye. Some say that it’s possible to see them with just binoculars but finding them is the real trick.
That’s when using a star app on your phone or tablet is helpful. It’s basically a star map. The free one that comes on the iPhone is SkyView and it’s great for finding planets and stars.
Look Up appears in the weekend edition. If you have any astronomical questions or facts you’d like to share email news@smdailyjournal.com with the subject line “Look Up.”
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