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The 12th Annual Astronomy at the Beach (Kensington Metropark, September 5-6, 2008) |
During early 2004, four planets will be visible in the same section of the sky. Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will all be visible during the evening hours.
This alignment is easy to observe from the Northern Hemisphere; you only have to go outside any clear night in the early evening during March, April or May and look toward the west. Three bright objects are easily seen with the naked eye (they are Saturn, Jupiter and Venus). Mars is dimmer, but also visible.
Venus is the brightest planet and easy to observe with the naked eye. However it shows little detail when observed through a telescope.
Mars varies in brightness more than other planets. It can vary from bright red to pale pink over its two year cycle. Observation from earth based telescopes is worthwhile only near opposition (which occurs once every two years).
Jupiter is easy to observe with the naked eye. If you use binoculars you may be able to see some of the four brightest moons (which may be visible as small dots near the bright disk of Jupiter). With a small telescope, you can see bands in the atmosphere and up to four moons (sometimes one or more of the moons are behind the planet and not visible).
Saturn is easy to observe with the naked eye. If you use a small telescope, you will able to see the rings (except every few years when the rings are “edge-on,” and thus not visible from our vantage point). Normally you can see the brightest moon, Titan, and possibly other moons.
Copyright © 1996-2008, Great Lakes Association of Astronomy Clubs.
Except for the photographs of the planets, all photographs on this page taken at Kensington Metropark during “Astronomy at the Beach.”
The following photographs were taken by:
Web page constructed by Dave Snyder.
For questions about “Astronomy at the Beach,” contact Dave D’Onofrio at Dave1ACT@aol.com, Bob MacFarland at stargzr@wowway.com or Kensington Metropark at 1-800 477-3178.
This page last modified April 19, 2008.