Friday, January 30, 2009

The Waxing Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter in a line!




Thanks to NiteSkyGirl, I watched some terrific segments of Jack the Stargazer's videos. The segment covering the week of February 15 to 22 tells of some very exciting events coming up. This entire week will have a pre-dawn treat. The waxing Moon, Mars, Venus and Jupiter (our largest satellite, the red planet, the smallest planet, and the largest planet) will all be dancing around each other starting on the 16th. On the 22nd, half an hour before dawn (typically around6:30 to  7:00ish), you will see all four celestial bodies lined up in an almost straight line! I know if the weather forecast is good, I'll be packing up my photography stuff to head up to the highest/clearest point around here and getting some (hopefully) great shots! The photo above is a screen shot I took of the great and free multi-platform software called "Stellarium". Google it, download it and enjoy the sky much, much more. I know I have.

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