[ETL]

Note: Venus will be the much brighter of the two and appear totally white in color. Mercury will just look like a pink or orange colored average star to the right of Venus. Mercury is currently about 93 million miles from Earth, or about the same distance as the Sun (at this time). Venus is now approximately 150 million away from Earth. Venus is often mistaken for the headlight of an approaching airplane or even a 'UFO'.

Mars at this time, around sunset, is high in the sky, almost directly overhead from my New York City latitude. Of course its position in the sky depends on your own particular latitude. It appears as a fairly bright yellowish or orange 'star'. Saturn is currently rising around 6:20PM and should be high enough in the east-northeast sky by sunset to be seen from lots of locations. It is nowhere near as bright as Venus and can be easily taken for a star, except that it's light is more steady. It is basically alone in the east-northeast sky just after sunset at this time. The really bright orange star north of it is the red giant star Arcturus. -ETL

[George from New England]

Thank you for posting this. Astronomy is great and I love to watch moon rises out my window from my Florida place. I have an Easterly view as good as at the ocean and can see right at 0 degrees elevation.

[ETL]

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/89275667.html

________________________________________

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/89279827.html

[rjsimmon]

I have been waiting through Virginia's long, harsh winter before taking my SCT out for a good seeing. Hopefully soon...

Clear Skies!

[ETL]

Now that I think about it, Saturn may actually be closer to due east after sunset (as opposed to east-northeast). In any case, the only other bright object above the eastern horizon at that time is the bright orange star Arcturus a fair distance to the north of Saturn.

[SunkenCiv]

Ah, for the good old days. ;')

· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe ·

[KoRn]

Many many many, thanks for posting this!

I’ve taken a bit of an interest in night sky watching lately. This past weekend I went out and picked up a good binocular, that’s adequate for looking at the stars and other objects. It was clear out when I got home with them, so I gave it a try. I was totally blown away by how much the night sky seems to ‘come alive’ when looking at it with optics. Just looking at the Nebula in Orion is one of the more beautiful things I’ve ever seen! It was a little surprising when I thought about how I’d seen it my entire life, but never really knew how awesome it was, until getting a closer look.

I’m still trying to get a feel for what I’m looking at up there, and your post has the kind of information I’ve been looking for. Especially since I’m in VA, and you being in NY.

Thanks again! Please continue to post such threads whenever you get such information.

[KoRn]

The view of Venus and Mercury together was awesome this evening! Thanks for the heads up!

Using the astronomy software that was linked to in this thread, I was also able to see Mars and Saturn(I’m pretty sure) very well using my binoculars.

I can’t believe I hadn’t discovered this little hobby sooner, because it’s a lot of fun. I wish I would have had the optics when those comets were around back during the mid-90s. Every clear night is a big event! I might have to break down and find me a good telescope. I’d love to get a closer look at that Nebula within the Orion constellation.