{"id":7254,"date":"2011-03-08T09:49:42","date_gmt":"2011-03-08T09:49:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=7254"},"modified":"2020-09-17T10:13:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T09:13:09","slug":"planets-in-the-night-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2011\/03\/planets-in-the-night-sky\/","title":{"rendered":"Planets in the Night Sky"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve always wanted to know more about the various objects we can see in the night sky. I know a few of them but I’m certainly no expert, I just have never got around to really studying the sky and learning what everything is. [Edit April 4th 2015 – I’m actually getting a bit better at this now, but need to keep an eye on the sky to stay up to date with what is visible at any given time]<\/p>\n

The trouble is, until recently I’ve never really found an easy, accessible way to get to grips with it all. The night sky is a pretty dynamic place with planets appearing and disappearing from view all the time , so it’s hard to keep up. I’ve tried various iPad apps that show you what everything is but haven’t really got to grips with\u00a0them.<\/p>\n

Sunday night was a nice clear night and as we sat down for dinner we noticed a lovely thin crescent Moon fairly low in the sky with a bright planet next to it. I wasn’t sure which planet it was so looked it up online to find out that it was Jupiter. As I was searching I came across a nice website called Astronomy Today<\/a> which has a good written account of what you should be able to see in the night sky. The best thing about it was the way it was written which allowed a novice like me to tell what was what and more importantly gave me an idea of what to look out for. The bit about Jupiter said:<\/p>\n

In\u00a0March, Jupiter is sinking toward the horizon earlier each night. The slender crescent Moon visits the giant planet on\u00a0March 6, six degrees to Jupiter’s right.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There was no difficulty from that description working out that the planet we could see was Jupiter. It continued on to say:<\/p>\n

Over the next couple days, Mercury\u00a0will emerge from the western horizon….\u00a0until it meets Jupiter in the\u00a0best evening conjunction of bright planets in 2011\u00a0on\u00a0March 15<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, that’s something to look out for over the next few days. Also of interest was the information about the moon during March and that March’s full Moon on the 19th coincides with the time that the Moon is closest to the Earth this year. If it’s a clear night it should be a nice bright one… Maybe I should arrange a night ride for the 19th.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve always wanted to know more about the various objects we can see in the night sky. I know a few of them but I’m certainly no expert, I just have never got around to really studying the sky and learning what everything is. 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