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[magic612]

Hello fellow Chicago Astronomers!

Last week may have been the ideal time for seasoned amateurs to see all 7 planets in the sky, thanks to Mercury being at greatest elongation on the 23rd. But the innermost planet is still rather high up, and this week the Moon points the way to finding both Uranus and Neptune, which can be the harder two to find for beginners. I'll walk you through finding them, plus point the way to the others - check it out here:



Thanks for watching - hope you all have a safe and wonderful New Year.

[Paulie pchris00]

"Look down to see the eighth one." ;D

Man, I really wanted to catch all of the planets the night we were at Adler, and quite a few nights since then.

I managed to catch all the naked eye planets on December 24, but only naked eye.

[magic612]

Paulie, I think Mercury is really the one that's toughest. If you can spot Neptune and Uranus from finder charts, then the innermost planet becomes the most elusive just due to it's proximity to the Sun. I figure I have quite a few people who are quite new to observing, so if they are not familiar with star-hopping, then the Moon made a nice sign-post this week to find the two outer gas giants.

Sadly... it will probably be cloudy around here.

[Paulie pchris00]

Since Venus came back to the evening sky I've wanted to catch all the major planets in one night, sunset to sunrise. Mercury and the weather have been the two wild cards. Seeing all the major planets (and maybe a few minor ones), the Moon and Sun in one calendar day or in a 24 hour period is something that should be on my bucket list.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Paulie...

Do you remember the five planet alignment of a few years back?

I do...was cool.

[Paulie pchris00]

I don't know if there's been one more recent, but I remember in the spring of 2004 the five naked eye planets were gathered at sunset, but those were the days before I was really into watching the sky. I did try to point them out to a sort of girlfriend at the time, but I really had no idea which was which.

[magic612]

Dec 28, 2011 14:43:33 GMT -6 Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe said:

Do you remember the five planet alignment of a few years back?

I do...was cool.

Definitely was, and I remember seeing that. I dragged all the females in my life out to the farmland around us and pointed them all out. Actually my wife really was impressed; both daughters were perhaps a bit too young to appreciate it then.