Planets put on a farewell to winter show

     As the bonds of winter lose their grasp and spring closes in upon us, the planets put on a show of their own. Mercury and Venus can be seen in the morning sky before sunrise. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn begin the month about 30 degrees apart but close to less than 9 degrees by month's end! For many of us, this is the time of year to celebrate.  It is the end of winter as of 2:35 AM on March 20th!  I love the starry skies of winter, but I hate the cold!

     If you glance at the eastern sky about an hour before sunrise, you cannot fail to notice Venus!  This second planet from the Sun far outshines any other planet or star. Mercury is slightly higher in the sky than Venus. It is also quite a bit more dim, so you will need to really look for it. On March 28th, Mercury reaches what is known as it's greatest elongation (farthest apparent distance from the Sun as we see it.) On that date Mercury will appear to be 28 degrees away from the rising Sun.

     If you have binoculars or a small telescope, take a look at Venus. Venus exhibits an almost full phase, nearly 90 percent. Because Venus is always so bright, the naked eye cannot detect that this planet goes through phases much like the moon. A little assistance to the eye will show that Venus is sometimes a thin crescent and sometime like this, nearly full. It was the phases of Venus that put a final end to the Earth-centered solar system. Galileo Galilei was  the first person to point a telescope at the night sky, and phases of Venus was one of the first things he saw. At the time, Ptolemy's solar system was the accepted version. Ptolemy had Venus orbiting the Earth between us and the Sun, and this would not permit a "full" Venus.

     If you are up two hours before dawn, you will get a preview of the summer sky. The summer triangle sits on the eastern horizon at about 5am.  The triangle is not a constellation, rather it consists of three constellations. Vega, from the constellation Lyra the Lyre is the brightest star of the three. Deneb, of Cygnus the swan lies to the northeast and Altair of Aquilla the Eagle lies lower in the east. If the skies are very dark, you might see the Milky Way which runs through Cygnus. Later in the summer these stars will grace our skies all night.

     The evening sky show consists of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, and it is quite a show! As these three close in on each other it is a good time to view them. Jupiter is by far the brightest and lies in the middle of this trio. Small telescopes will show Jupiter's four major moons and the planet's delicate cloud patterns in the atmosphere.

     Mars is the dimmest of the three planets, partly because it lies so close to the horizon after sunset. It will be difficult to see detail on the red planet, even with a telescope because it is so close to the horizon, but you can easily see its dusky red color.

     Saturn is midway in brightness between the other two planets and lies slightly higher in the sky than Jupiter. By month's end, these three planets are only 9 degrees apart, less than the width of a fist held at arm's length! A small telescope will show Saturn's famous rings. Saturn will appear only half the size of Jupiter. Since the planets are about the same size, we can see that Saturn is twice as far from us as Jupiter. This is a great time to compare all three planets, and all five if you are willing to rise early!