Venus, Mars and Jupiter

Any sky-watchers out there?

If anyone is interested, Venus, Mars and Jupiter are REALLY easy to see in the morning sky right now.  Takes almost no effort at all and I can almost guarantee ANYONE (even non-space types) will be able to identify them.  Interested?

1.  Go outside when it’s still dark.  I’ve been seeing my planet pals around 6 am, whilst walking the dog.

2.  Look east .  See the super bright “star”?  That’s Venus.  It’s the brightest object in the night sky other than the moon, and for the last couple of days, the moon hasn’t been out there in this area.

3.  Now look a couple inches (in your mental view frame) below and to the left of Venus.  See that other fairly bright “star”?  That’s Jupiter.  It’s really bright right now. 

4.  And now look slightly above Jupiter and you’ll see a dim red dot.  That would be Mars.


Three planets in one shot!!  Now get out there and look!

How the planets will be arranged on October 17, 2015.
This morning Mars was a little more above Jupiter than shown in this image.
Image credit: Skymania, using Stellarium, a free software planetariuim.

And just think. We could be ON that little red speck in just 15 to 20 years!!! AWESOME!!