Planets in the Sky tonight

[justTripn]

Here is a tip for anyone in the Northern Hemisphere who wants to find the planets among the stars tonight. (Well, it works for 42 degrees lattitude.) Go out around eleven or midnight and look nearly straight up. The brightest "star" overhead will be Mars. Mar will be to the left of two other really bright stars, Pollux and Castor, the heads of the twins Gemini (a constellation that looks like two stick figures together). Mars, Pollux, and Castor will be forming a 160 degree angle. Mars is a definite orangey-red color.

From Mars move about two hand widths to your left and down slightly to find the constellation Leo, which really looks like a lion laying down (think of the Sphynx). The lion's head is a grouping of stars that looks like a large question mark. the hindquarters is a triangle. About a hand's width below the hindquarters of Leo is Saturn, a very bright "star" but not as bright as Mars right now. It is a golden color.

Unlike stars, planets don't twinkle.

See if you can find Mars and Saturn tonight.


Mars is very near the Beehive cluster. If you look at Mars in binoculars, you will see the Beehive cluster. It is one of the closest star clusters. Very pretty. If there is not much light pollution near you, you can see this star cluster naked eye.

[Aikiweezie]

I'll be out there looking! Thanks for the tip.