Spot five planets at once and a transit of Mercury in 2016

Batlimore Sun ^ | 12/31/2015 | Scott Dance

[BenLurkin]

Skywatchers will have many opportunities in 2016 to see just how small we are in the universe.

Four days into the new year, hundreds of meteors will dance across the night skies....

Come September, an outer ring of the sun's annular eclipse will be visible across Africa. In between, there will be spectacular shooting stars, super moons, and lunar eclipses to take in.

...

From about Jan. 20 to Feb. 20, all five planets that are visible to the naked eye — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn — will occupy the morning sky. This hasn't happened since 2005, according to EarthSky.org. To distinguish them, remember that Mercury never appears far from the horizon, Venus is the brightest, Mars can appear to have a reddish tint, and Saturn looks more golden.

...

Jupiter, the second-brightest of the visible planets, will be at its most brilliant March 8. With binoculars, you might even be able to see its four largest moons, while a telescope will reveal other details, like its Great Red Spot.

A total solar eclipse will occur March 9, visible in Hawaii and across the Pacific Ocean to Indonesia. Organizations like the Slooh telescope service broadcast eclipses and other celestial events live online.

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Mercury will cross the sun's face as viewed from Earth on May 9. It is only safe to watch through a telescope with an adequate solar filter, and even then, Mercury is a tiny dot relative to the size of the sun. Transits of Mercury occur about 13 times each century, more frequently than transits of Venus but not as often as lunar or solar eclipses. The last Mercury transit occurred in 2006; the next won't come until 2019.

[BenLurkin]

ping

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin.

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[BBB333]

Ping for later.

Thanks!