MORNING PLANET SHOW: Set your alarm for dawn. Venus, Jupiter and
Mars are gathering for a three-way close encounter in the
early morning sky. Yesterday, Jeff Dai woke up early and
photographed the convergence from Yading, China:
"At 6 am, Venus, Jupiter and Mars were rising
just above the Xianuodukji peak at Yading national natural
reserve in the province of Sichuan," says Dai. "The view
was spectacular."
It's about to become even more spectacular.
From Oct.
24th to Oct.
29th the converging planets will fit
together inside a circle only 5o wide (sky
maps: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6). This means you can see all three planets
at once using typical binoculars. Of course, you can also
see the three planets with the naked eye. It is
extra-cool, however, to frame the planets in a single
binocular field of view. Wake up early and check it out.
http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=24&month=10&year=2015
The brightest planets in the sky—Venus,
Jupiter and Mars —will converge this week above the
eastern horizon at dawn. It will be their closest
gathering until 2018.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151019-astronomy-star-moon-planets-stargazing-night-sky/