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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Jupiter, Mars and Mercury to Gather in the Eastern Sky

This Sunday morning, a great and rare sight will greet early risers, (or late home arrivals), in the eastern skies on the 10th of December 2006.

Three planets orbiting the Sun will appear to get so very close to each other, that the outstretched thumb will cover them all!

Sunrise in Chicago will be at 7:07 am and it's well advised to start your observing session about 45 minutes before dawn. Binoculars will provide good views and I'm sure all three will fit in the field of view of a low powered eyepiece in any telescope.

Our friend at the Adler Planetarium was picked up by the AP news service and gives the following advice:


"But if you are going to use a telescope, be careful because the planets are so close to where the sun will soon rise, if you linger you might gaze at the sun through the telescope and damage your eyesight, said Michelle Nichols, master educator at Chicago's Adler Planetarium.

The way to find the planets, which will be low on the east-southeast horizon, is to hold your arm straight out, with your hand in a fist and the pinky at the bottom. Halfway up your fist is how high the planets will appear above the horizon, Nichols said.

Jupiter will be white, Mercury pinkish and Mars butterscotch-colored."

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Chicago Astronomer Curt has posted detailed data and an animated graphic on the conjunction here:

astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?board=Conjunctions&action=display&thread=1165205480


If any of you have the opportunity to view this event, please do let us know. Photographs will be quite nice to see. Hopefully the skies will be clear and I'll be on my garage roof enjoying the views...

[Centaur]

There is a forum on this message board for Eclipses, Conjunctions, Occultations and Alignments. I assumed that was the place for my thorough description of the planetary trio when I placed it there on December 3rd. It also includes a link to my animated graphic of the event. Apparently all of this work has gone unnoticed. This has happened before on this site. Perhaps the ECO&A forum should be eliminated.

astronomer.proboards23.com/index.cgi?board=Conjunctions&action=display&thread=1165205480

www.curtrenz.com/astronomical.html

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

No, it fine just where it is.

I had mails that some are confused about where to search for such events. Perhaps a revamp of the topics are in order. Maybe "What's new in the sky board" for general events.

Also,


I should have included the link to your notice, that I do apologize...but it was early in the morning when I wrote it...

It is corrected now.

[Centaur]

admin said:

Perhaps a revamp of the topics are in order. .

Thanks for the link, Joe. I completely understand what happened.

You can accept my vote too for a major consolidation among the forum choices on the message board. I can see that it's hard for both thread initiators and pure lurkers to find or choose the proper forum. It may be especially intimidating to potential new members. I wouldn't fret if it means deleting some of the old threads. I myself often delete my old threads, if no replies had appeared.

I also find the download of the board to be time consuming and usually having at least one error reported by the browser. That often keeps me away when pressed for time. Perhaps some of the graphic material could be removed. Or some of it could occasionally appear on a rotating basis. Regular changes may actually pique the interest of members and cause them to visit more often.

Small improvements in a website can exponentially increase the number of hits. Word of mouth (or web chat) does wonders. Once people learn that a great many other knowledgeable people who share their interests frequent a message board, membership size can soar. Conversely, when membership remains modest or starts to decline, few choose to stay. That’s the way with many businesses, especially restaurants, bars and night clubs.

You're got a fine website, Joe, and you're obviously dedicated to it. The job isn't easy. I'm only making suggestions; I don't mean to interfere. I wish you and the website continued success.

[atomant]

joe, i wanted to call you, but forgot my phone...

i drove to adler to catch this neat event.
i was able to catch the trio with my first pair of binos 8x30 i keep handy in the car.
i also brought my new grab-n-go 60mm scope.
mercury and jupiter was visible naked eye.
the moon and saturn weren't shabby too.
the wind was a killer here!

20x thru 60mm - mercury was quite bright compared to jupiter.


adler helped shade the sunrise


i must be nuts....time for a little nap....

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Bill,

I was near the Adler too that morning, more to the south by the old Meigs airport. In the same place we caught the recent comet.

A full narrative is coming soon, but I took some pics, but doubt any came out well enough. I could not see anything naked eye, only with binoculars.

It was a good, (albeit very cold), experience.

[atomant]

You're kidding...No wonder I felt the Force that morning...
I think Linda was also out by the Lake, too..
I'm glad you were able to experience this neat event..
It was a wonderfully clear morning.

Mother Nature has been too kind...

1. Mercury Transit
2. Planet conjunction
3. Gemi.......nids......

I am glad I stopped buying telescopes...the curse has taken a break...