Finding Venus, Mars, and Jupiter... and the International Space Station

Photo credit: Earthsky.org

Tomorrow morning there will be another excellent opportunity to see the planetary trio of Mars, Venus, and Jupiter. They should be pretty easy to spot as long as your sky is relatively cloud free.

You'll want to look to the east a couple of hours before dawn and find the brightest thing in the sky just above the horizon.  That will be Venus.  Extend your arm in front of you with your index finger pointing outward and line up your finger with the left side of Venus.

Mars should be on the other side of your finger, almost parallel to Venus. It should look reddish, especially if you are viewing through binoculars or a telescope. Jupiter will be quite a bit higher in the sky and not quite as bright as Venus.

Photo credit: Earthsky.org

If you miss it tomorrow morning, each day, Venus will move farther away from Mars so keep that in mind if you look for it on a different morning. It will always be the brightest thing in the sky over the horizon. 

This will be the view on Friday, November 6th, when Jupiter buddies up to the Moon.

You should have no trouble seeing the planets since the Moon will be a waning crescent.

Over the weekend, the Moon will continue to move down in the sky so that by Saturday morning, it should be sitting right next to Venus.

Photo credit: Earthsky.org

You can read more about this HERE on Earthsky.org.

Photo Credit:  NASA.gov

The International Space Station will also be visible every morning this week on both coasts.  You should be able to spot it with the nnaided eye -- it's the third brightest thing in the sky and even city dwellers should have no trouble identifying it.  With a good pair of binoculars or even a modest telescope, you should be able to see a fair amount of structural detail.  

You can register for alerts or simply check the schedule HERE on NASA's website.  NASA will send alerts when the ISS is passing overhead just before dawn and just after dusk.  THIS is a link that explains how to interpret the information in the alert so you can find the ISS.

And mark your calendars now:  the next spacewalk will be happening this Friday when Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren step out of the airlock and into space.  Log into NASA TV to watch the preparations and the actual walk.  NASA broadcasts feeds from cameras mounted on the astronauts' helmets and on the space station itself.

You can read more about this on NASA.gov.  The schedule for all upcoming live events on NASA TV is HERE.  Coverage for this Friday;s spacwalk begins at 5:30 AM EST (2:30 AM Pacific) and the spacewalk starts at 7:10 AM EST (4:10 AM Pacific).

For those of you who enjoy spotting planets in the sky, the next several days will provide a great opportunity to see Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter which will all dot the eastern sky before dawn for the next few days.

Venus, Mars, and Jupiter form a tight grouping in the sky known as a planetary trio. They won't be visible in such close proximity in the sky again until 2016.

The planets are best seen about an hour before sunrise... another "bennie", since you don't have to stay up late or get up in the middle of the night to see them.

Earthsky.org reports that Venus will be at it's highest point in the sky tomorrow morning, but the planets should all be visible through the morning of October 29th.

And don't let the presence of high thin clouds deter you. The stars might not be clearly visible but the brightly shining planets may still peak through breaks in the clouds.

Mercury will be rising just over the horizon. If you face tall trees or hills in the east, it might not be visible, but if you drive a short distance to an area where the horizon is low, you can probably spot this elusive planet.

Here are some links to more information about this. Photos are credited to Earthsky.org.

You can read articles about viewing these planets HERE and HERE.   

Photographer Ken Christison captured the image below of the planetary trio despite the presence of clouds in the sky. The photo gives you a good sense of the brightness and size of each planet, helpful for separating them out from everything else in the nighttime sky.

Note that the positions of the planets will change somewhat during the night and from night to night.

Five Planets Visible in the Sky

Illustration Credit:  Earthsky.com

Tonight and tomorrow, the evening sky presents an excellent opportunity to see Saturn. Tonight, you can look for it low in the southwest sky, just to the left of the moon. You should be able to see it without any optics, but a good pair of binoculars or even a modest telescope will provide a feast for the eyes as you should be able to see Saturn's rings!

The Earthsky.org article linked HERE gives instructions for locating Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter as well. Since the moon is a very small waxing crescent, visibility will be best tonight, good the next two nights as the crescent gets larger and brightens the adjacent sky.

Illustration Credit:  Earthsky.com

Planets like Saturn shine steadily;  they don't twinkle the way stars do.  The other bright object that you are likely to encounter in this area of the sky is a reddish star, Anatares, the heart of Scorpius.

Antares should definitely appear reddish in your telescope and it twinkles enthusiastically.  It will be to the left of Saturn, with Saturn almost at the mid-point between Antares and the Moon.  If you don't get to view the night sky before the weekend, on Saturday you'll find Antares directly below the moon and Saturn way to the right, forming a triangle.

Four other planets brighten the pre-dawn sky.  The Earthsky.com article gives excellent tips for locating Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Venus HERE.  Mars and Jupiter will be next door sky-neighbors this weekend.  They will be the closest they'll be for our viewing for the next three years on Sunday just before dawn.

Jupiter will appear to continue to slide under Mars in the night sky over the weekend.  It will be worth getting up early to see...  they won't be this close again until 2018.

Credit: Earthsky.org    Mars and Jupiter as they will appear early Sunday morning