rick@ucla-cs.UUCP (10/16/84)
<=== yum yum ===>
Speaking of planets lining up in our line-of-vision, just how often does
this happen? For instance, when (if ever) was the last time all the planets
lined up as seen from Earth (excluding Earth of course)? I remember hearing
a few years ago about a theory that said the Christmas star was such an
occurence.
Rick Gillespie
rick@ucla-cs
...!{cepu|ihnp4|sdcrdcf|ucbvax}!ucla-cs!rick
"I came here for a good argument!"
"No you came here for an argument"dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (10/19/84)
Mars and Jupiter meet Saturday evening high in the evening sky. More on how to see them -- after this. October 13 A Meeting of Jupiter and Mars Two planets come very near each other Saturday evening -- Jupiter and Mars -- which can be seen high in the southwestern sky just after sunset. Mars actually passes due south of Jupiter this evening. At their closest, the two planets are slightly less than two degrees apart. The giant planet Jupiter is pretty easy to spot around now because it's brighter than any thing else in the evening sky -- with the exception of Venus. Saturday evening, just after the sun goes down, Venus is the brilliant object low in the western sky. Jupiter is high in the sky -- the second-brightest object visible. The planet Mars is right next to Jupiter. Its red color contrasts in an interesting way to the bold white light of the giant planet -- and to the fading red of twilight itself. Mars is the planet orbiting just outward from Earth in our solar system. And Jupiter orbits beyond Mars, although the two worlds are separated by the asteroid belt. While Mars and Jupiter look pretty much alike in our sky -- both starlike points of light -- they're really very different types of worlds. Mars is a small rocky world like Earth. Jupiter is a huge gaseous giant -- with its own mini-solar-system of orbiting, planet-like moons. There's also a star very near Mars and Jupiter in Saturday evening's sky. The star is Lambda in the constellation Sagittarius. This star marks the HANDLE of a tiny pattern of stars called the Milk Dipper. When you see it near Mars and Jupiter, you might try to pick out the rest of the dipper pattern. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1983, 1984 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin