Sky Watch

[Frayed Knot]

Been a while since we had a Sky Watch update ... as I'm sure all of you noticed.
So seeing as how all five of the visible planets are on display this month it's a good time to dust off the topic.

Those two bright stars you see high up in the southern sky just after sunset or sinking towards the western sky a few hours later are Jupiter and Saturn. Their orbits are essentially
'lined up' with each other which is what makes them so close together from our vantage point. I believe they'll get closer still in the coming weeks as the closer-in and therefore
faster moving Jupiter (the much brighter of the two) is in the process of 'passing' Saturn in its trek around the sun, and for a few days next week they'll be joined by a waxing
crescent moon. Because of the long orbital periods of those planets, it will be many years before the two are lined up like this again.

Arcing over towards the eastern side you can't help but spot the very bright Mars. The fact that it's nearly opposite the sun means Mars is about as close to Earth as it gets and
therefore nearly at its maximum brightness and with its distinctive reddish tint at its most obvious. It will stay visible until after midnight, several hours after the other two have set.

To round out the quintet, early risers looking low in the eastern sky an hour or so prior to sunrise will see the extremely bright Venus. Just below that somewhere is Mercury but I've
never knowingly seen Mercury. Generally it's either blocked on account of being too low in the sky or it gets washed out on account of being too close to the rising sun and the quickly
lighten-ing morning sky. But maybe if you've got an unobstructed eastern horizon and a cloudless morning ...


Happy gazing.

[whippoorwill]

I like your skywatches

Now that I no longer leave the house before dawn I don’t get to watch for what you are telling us anymore though.

So keep telling us and I will imagine it!

[Frayed Knot]

I like your skywatches

I knew someone was clamoring for it
(what's the sound of one person clamoring?)

Now that I no longer leave the house before dawn I don’t get to watch for what you are telling us anymore though. So keep telling us and I will imagine it!

Well the Jupiter / Saturn / Mars trio is in the night sky.

[whippoorwill]

The problem is we have very little sky to look at at home because of trees
When I was driving to my grandkids, I had the whole BaldEagle-Nittany valleys to take in :)

[Frayed Knot]

So re: the first post in this thread, if you've got clear skies tonight or any of the next couple nights, Jupiter and Saturn are essentially on top of each other at this point (from our point of view
obviously) and will almost seem to merge into one "star" at the closest alignment on Monday. Perhaps it's fitting that this is occurring at this time of year as some believe that a similar
convergence of a trio of heavenly bodies is a potential explanation for the 'Star of Bethlehem' and was the light the Magi were following some 2,000 years ago.

Anyway, southwestern skies starting as soon as it darkens post-sunset until about two hours afterward. Jupiter is the much brighter of the two. Tonight the pair is about halfway between the
crescent moon and setting sun although the waxing moon will be moving away from them over the next few days.

[whippoorwill]

Been waiting for this!

[MFS62]

Saw them.
It was a very clear night.
Thanks for the heads up.
Later

[Edgy MD]

Anybody spot Jupiturn this evening?

[whippoorwill]

Too cloudy. Hopefully tonight

[Frayed Knot]

I had a clear night and caught a quick look. It was just after sunset so between it not yet being totally dark and being so close to the brighter Jupiter, Saturn was nearly obscured. When I went back to check they had already disappeared behind the horizon. As they've been getting closer they've also been getting lower in the sky so the viewing window has been getting smaller.

What this is really made for is a telescope as this is the one time you could get both in one field of view where they'd look like they were actual neighbors complete with Saturn's rings and one or more of Jupiter's big moons in the same shot.

They'll still be in close proximity for the next week or so just getting lower in the sky and further apart each night.

[Edgy MD]

Getting a shot of Jupe within Saturn's rings would be cool.

[whippoorwill]

I think it’s going to be cloudy again tonight danggit

[kcmets]

Anybody spot Jupiturn this evening?

Too overcast here.

[Edgy MD]

I'm seein' it!

[whippoorwill]

Great! Cloudy last night again.

[whippoorwill]

Might have seen it last night! There was a planet above the moon but it didn’t look like two of them

[kcmets]

It's not by the moon, Uranus and Mars are though when it rises(d) in the east.

The Jupiter/Saturn thing is in the low western sky after sunset, I believe. Haven't
seen anything, guess I'll have to wait another 900 years lol...

[Frayed Knot]

Might have seen it last night! There was a planet above the moon but it didn’t look like two of them

Yeah, the bright star/moon near conjunction last night was Mars (not sure how close they got cuz I got all the clouds last night).
Mars has been super bright for over a month now both because it was opposite the sun and therefore a 'full' Mars (rather than a half or crescent) and because
it was at its nearest point to earth. Over the past six weeks it's gradually moved to more like 90 degrees from the sun putting it just about directly overhead
at sunset. Still quite bright, if only a bit less so than it was in November. Mars also has a distinct red tint to it which is noticeable on a clear night.


Jupiter and Saturn will do this again a few years from now when Jupiter, which circles the sun almost three times as fast [a 12 earth-year year vs Saturn at nearly 30], laps the slower Saturn.
The thing about this one is that they so very rarely line up This perfectly as to almost appear to become one. Plus, if their next 'meeting' occurs when they're on the same side of us as
the sun then we'd never see it since it would be daytime. So This perfect an alignment is the thing that's going to take a few centuries.

[whippoorwill]

I would love to be more of a stargazer! But I always go to bed early and read

I guess I’ll have to work out a plan!

[Frayed Knot]

Happy equinox everyone!

[whippoorwill]

And to you also!

[Fman99]

On a related topic, not quite planet watching or star watching but still sky watching, as a computer home hobbyist I used some supplies I already had and purchased a few others to make myself a working ADS-B ground station as per the instructions here.

Anyone who wants to can go on to my own "Sky Aware" map, and see what aircraft are visible from the antenna in the front window of my home.

[MFS62]

Those aren't stars.
They are holes in the cover to allow us to breathe.

Later

[Willets Point]

If you can read this without making a loud guffaw, you are far more mature than I am.

[Edgy MD]

"Intriguing Gas Giant" used to be my handle at match.com.