BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Brad Klein reviews upcoming astronomical highlights with Bethlehem’s "Backyard Astronomy Guy," Marty McGuire.
This week, a look at the eight planets in our solar system, and what it takes to see them in the night sky.
The last week of February has been touted online and in the media as a "parade of planets," but seeing planets overhead, and roughly in line with each other, is neither rare nor unusual.
What makes this week a bit out of the ordinary is having all eight on the same side of the sun at the same time.
“Seven planets could all potentially be seen at one time in the evening sky,” according to McGuire. The eighth planet is visible simply by looking down.
It’s the Earth, but it’s not quite that simple.
Four planets shine bright enough to easily see with the naked eye. Starting at the western horizon after sunset this week, those planets are Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars.
Harder to spot is Mercury, just above Saturn. And you’ll need a telescope to see Neptune, which sits between Mercury and Venus in the night sky. And the same goes for Uranus, between Venus and Jupiter.
An astronomy app is a big help. But if you can identify two planets, and connect them with an imaginary line, then you’ve spotted the plane of our solar system, with all visible planets appearing near to that imaginary line stretching across the night sky.
