How many at one time?

Muppet Man

What an absolutely superb evening for viewing planets. Mars/Venus/Jupiter in all their blazing glory at the same time.

The thought did occur to me. What other planets could I see with the naked eye... Were mercury and saturn out tonight?

And then... What is MOST planets you could potentially see with the naked eye in the SKY at one time (at the same time)?

I'm guessing its techically possible to have mercury/mars/jupiter/venus in the sky at one time (and be visible). But could Saturn be also visible... (it is naked eye visible, right?)

Thanks,
Muppet Man

Captain Chaos

It is possible to see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn at the same time depending on their position in their orbits around the sun, it is rare enough but it does happen. Right now Mercury is too close to the sun for us to see, I think the same for Saturn.

Uranus and Neptune are to far away to see by eye unaided.

jfSDAS

hi Muppet Man,

an interesting question and, as you hinted, it is possible see all of the five "classical" planets with the unaided eye at the one time. Generally, future predictions look for when they are all grouped in the same area of sky and the next occasion will not be until 2040! Daniel Fischer, who runs the Cosmic Mirror space news site, has an interesting list of dramatic celestial events of the 21st century at http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~dfischer/21/

however, the opportunity to see all of the 5 naked-eye planets above the horizon at the one time occurs sooner than 2040. These would be occasions when they are not as tightly grouped as the 2040 event. The last time something dramatic like this happened was in 2002 (see the photos at http://www.pa.msu.edu/people/frenchj/const/index4.html ) - I remember comet Utsunomiya being in the evening sky at the same time too!
I don't have the details to hand of other future occasions when all 5 planets are above the horizon simultaneously but I will try check one of the Jean Meeus books I have on the shelf (he wrote a series called "Mathematical Astronomy Morsels" for Willman-Bell ... http://www.willbell.com )

As for this month, yes, all 5 planets can be seen in the evening sky up to mid-March though not all at the same time -- Mercury will have set before Saturn rises. There's some more details of celestial sights this month on the notes page I do up for Carl O'Beirnes that is hosted at http://www.balbriggan.info/Balbriggan_Observatory_J09_Carl_OBeirnes.shtml ... check the links listed on the right-hand side of Carl's page for more sites offering comprehensive sky notes for each month.

clear skies!

John

lolie

Mercury and Uranus are low in the west in the evening's for a short while after dark but probably only seen through a scope.

Saturn rises in the southeast about 11ish and is very visible but worth lookin at it through a scope as the rings are tilted towards us a bit.

Muppet Man

Great - thanks guys... Saturn is next on my list... dont think I have seen that yet.

Zubeneschamali

Muppet Man wrote: »

Great - thanks guys... Saturn is next on my list... dont think I have seen that yet.

You should check Mercury first: it's not often visible.

coylemj

Captain Chaos wrote: »

Right now Mercury is too close to the sun for us to see, I think the same for Saturn.

Could do better!

In fact yesterday Mercury was at it's greatest eastern elongation and as perfectly placed for observation as it's possible to be, it was 11 degrees above the horizon at 18:40 which was 30 minutes after sunset.

Saturn currently rises at 22:00. After 23:00 you can see it low in the SE, it's in a visible pair with Spica of Virgo to it's right.

So right now in the course of the evenings you can catch all of the naked eye planets though Mercury will quickly disappear into the sunset over the next few days.

shizz

Two days ago, after 6 I think? Not sure of the time but I could see Mars, Jupiter, Venus and to my surprise Mercury. I was so happy to see it. Following the line that Jupiter and Venus make pointing to the horizon, it could be seen hovering above the horizon amongst the twilight.

How great is it to see that many planets with the naked eye, all in one go?

Zubeneschamali

shizz wrote: »

How great is it to see that many planets with the naked eye, all in one go?

You forgot one: Earth.

shizz

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

You forgot one: Earth.

Indeed. The inner most planets all in one go.

jones 19

Muppet Man wrote: »

Great - thanks guys... Saturn is next on my list... dont think I have seen that yet.

Saturn is unreal................