For the next week or so, you have a rare opportunity to see three planets form a tight group in the western sky, just after sunset. Tonight, June 25th, they are so close together that Mercury and Venus almost overlap.
The next time there will be a grouping like this is in 2030, so get out there and show your kids something new. You will also be able to point out Jupiter, high in the south-eastern sky. It's the brightest object up there, so you won't have any trouble spotting it.
Sky and Telescope has a very nice article on this event, and you can download a really neat animation that shows the movement of these three planets as they dance their interplanetary dance between now and July 9th.
Get out there tonight and have a look!
(where the sky is no limit)
Article comments
1 - swingingpuss
Hope we see it tonight/tomorrow - thanks for the prompt post
2 - SFC SKI
I saw this vent last night while out for a walk. very neat indeed.
3 - Bennett
SFC SKI and swingingpuss, We have thunder storms moving in (hotter'n a bastard today) so I may not see it tonight. Last few days have been real nice. I can see this clearly from our front porch, always nice to have that kind of view!
Spread the word to anyone you know who has kids. It's a long wait for another grouping like this.
Cheers!
P.S. Aaman, thanks for the prompting to write this post!
4 - swingingpuss
Rotten luck Bennett, we too have thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow night.
I had the telescope ready and all :(
There should be some kind of reality TiVo for these kinds of occasions
5 - Bennett
Speaking of reality TiVo...
Arthur Clark has a book out there (mid 90's) called The Light Of Other Days. In it a technology is developed for opening microscopic "wormhole cameras", anywhere, and then any when.
His handling of this "time viewing" is simply stunning, and the exploration of evolution through this medium really provides perspective on the length of time, the eons that proceeded us humans here on earth.
Ten stars! I've given it as a gift to several people, that't how good it is.