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Stunning Planet Week
Credit: NASA
The sky is always stunning to look at no matter what day it is, but this week promises some pretty cool activity for stargazers. The emphasis this week is on the solar system. To begin with, the pairing of Jupiter and Venus in the west has been stunning for several days now and is approaching the two planets are approaching their closest distance. Tonight (Monday) they will be 3.1° apart (roughly two finger widths at arm’s length, your clenched fist is about 10°). The two planets will be just 3.0° apart on Tuesday night as Venus and Jupiter begin to switch orientations. This conjunction promises a stellar view for binocular viewers and some telescope viewers at lower power.
Next up is Saturn which rises just before 10pm (EDT). Always a stunning sight no matter what time of year, but Saturn’s rings are tilted just about at the optimal angle for viewing from Earth. Over the next couple months the rings will start to flatten out until they will be seen edge-on. Also, Saturn, the moon, and the star Spica will dazzle in the sky around midnight tonight and Tuesday.
Mars is currently trekking its way through the constellation Leo this month. Each day it is getting closer to Regulus, the brightest star in Leo and the foot of the lion. Mars is just past its closest distance from Earth and is quite a pleasing sight in a larger telescope at its highest point from 11pm to 1am.
Since the moon is rising late this week we have another chance to view comet Garradd as it zooms through the inner solar system. Garradd is still at magnitude 6.0-7.0 so you likely still need to drive away from the city lights a bit to see it with a telescope. The comet is currently hanging out near the bowl of Ursa Minor and λ Draconis on Friday night.
Sky Mapping
So since I’m new to the whole astronomy gig I figured I must do what every new amateur astronomer must do and start mapping out the night sky on your own! I have no idea how I’m going to do it just yet but hey, it can’t be that hard! The ancient Egyptians figured it out 5000 years ago so I should be able to do it completely with my iPhone in one week, right? But seriously, I think it would be really cool to make a record of the movements of the stars and planets on my own. I’ll start with the planets to keep it simple for now. Jupiter, Venus, and Mars are all fairly visible at night right now. The moon should be pretty easy also. As long as there’s no complex math involved in the process I’ll be OK. I have a compass on my phone and I know all about angles of declination and the parallax angle and all that fun stuff but if you have suggestions feel free to comment away!
As I’m writing this I’m regretting not thinking of this sooner so I could have started on the first of the year 
But such is my life. For now I’m waiting here drinking some Jack Frost tea waiting for the clouds to break so I can log Jupiter and the moon for tonight. That is all for now. Good night planet Earth!
The Planets
I’m home from work sick today and I’m watching a show called “The Planets” on the Science Channel about the gas giants and I have to say that it is fascinating! I didn’t know that NASA’s 1977 Voyager mission to the outer solar system was executed to coordinate with a perfect planetary alignment that happens only once every 175 years. Although we don’t know for sure how the outer planets formed you sure do learn something new everyday on the Science Channel!
