Your best guide to the planets,
Friday 18th May 2012
All times are GMT +1 hour
Planet round up
Venus (dusk to late evening)
Mars (early evening to day break)
Saturn (early evening to day break)
Neptune (before sunrise)
Uranus (before sunrise)
The Moon for tonight… waning crescent 5% full, setting in the west at 6.45 pm, and rising in the east beyond midnight at 4.12 am
Next new Moon, Sunday 20th of May
Next full Moon, Monday 4th of June
Venus
“What is the bright star or planet in the west?” This is a very common question right now. It is the planet Venus, an extremely striking naked eye object in the night sky looking like a big, and very bright star. Venus, Earth’s “Evil Twin” is actually the third brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon. This is because of the planets thick, dense atmosphere…its sulphuric acid clouds reflecting sunlight almost like a mirror. This world is roughly the same size and mass as Earth but the planet has undergone a runaway greenhouse effect, making the surface hot enough to melt lead. It orbits backwards so the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east, but it rotates so slowly that the Venusian day is longer than the Venusian year. With searing heat, and atmospheric pressure equivalent to being nearly a mile under the sea, this place would be a vision of hell.
Venus can easily be seen in the fading light, and after dark becomes extremely luminous, it sets in the north-west by late evening. You’ll have no problems at all seeing it if your skies are clear, it’s actually pretty hard to miss.
Moons, none.
Coordinates for Venus RA 5h, 32m / DEC 26, 55′
Tonight Venus sets beyond midnight in the north-west at 11.52 pm with a magnitude of -3.95, and an angular size of 50.0″ arc seconds.
How long will Venus be visible? Venus is blazing in the evening skies, appearing after sunset in the west or north-west and will stay with us for a few more weeks. Venus is high in the evening sky making a very bright naked eye object, it joined Jupiter on March 12/13th of March for a very impressive planetary conjunction. It got to its furthest at elongation from the Sun on 27th of March, and will go out of sight by the end of May.
Jupiter (out of sight)
When will Jupiter be back? Jupiter has disappeared into the west in the sun’s glow, after recently creating a brilliant planetary pair up with Venus during early spring. But the solar system’s biggest planet will soon be returning as a morning object from the start of June, rising in the east just before sunrise. The gas giant will then gradually appear earlier and earlier each morning as it travels in its orbit, to where it will be rising in the north-east at midnight on the 15th of August 2012.
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Mars
Mars becomes visible high in the south-west after night fall in the constellation of Leo, you can’t really miss it if you’re looking in the right direction. You’ll notice how it’s definitely red or salmon pink in colour, and it doesn’t twinkle like a star. Although Mars has passed opposition back in March, the red planet is still impressively bright in the night sky, especially from a dark site. As the night progresses it moves lower to the west, where it sets as the day breaks. Mars, the freeze dried desert world is smaller than Earth, but it does things on a big scale. It lays claim to the biggest volcano in the solar system that’s so large it would nearly cover France, and the solar system’s longest and deepest canyon. Mars was shaped by liquid water around 4 billion years ago, and is a site of interest in the search for past or present alien life. The Nasa Rover Opportunity is still driving around on that red light in the night sky, and the car sized Nasa Rover ‘Curiosity’ is right now flying through space to land there in August. Mars continually produces methane, a gas that quickly breaks down in the atmosphere. There are only two ways methane is made, either geological activity or biological, and Mars is thought to be a geologically dead world.
Coordinates for Mars RA 10h, 48 / DEC 9, 10′
Tonight Mars is in constellation Leo on the base of the main body of the lion, forming a pair with the star Regulus. You can pick out the head of the Leo as it looks like a backwards question mark. A good way to find Mars right now is to draw a straight line from the end two stars of the bowl of the Big Dipper of about 45 degrees, to Mars below in Leo. The red planet becomes visible high in the south-west after dark, and during the evening Mars moves lower to the west where it eventually sets at 3.02 am. Tonight Mars has a magnitude of 0.479 and an angular size of 9.0″ arc seconds.
Mars reached opposition, on 3rd of March
How long will Mars be visible? Mars increased fully in size and brightness at opposition on the 3rd March 2012, when it was at magnitude -1.23, with an angular size of 13.9. The red planet will now be slowly decreasing in brightness but will be visible in the sky up to mid August 2012, at this time it will have moved low into the Sun’s glare joining Saturn in the west at dusk.
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Mercury (out of sight)
When will Mercury be back? Mercury has gone out of sight in the glare of the sunrise, as it moves back behind the Sun in its orbit. It will return slightly better positioned for seeing than of late, from the beginning of June. Mercury will be visible as an evening planet just above the north west horizon during late evening, and will be at its furthest elongation from the Sun on the 28th of June.
Saturn
Saturn the ringed gas giant is on view rising in the early evening in the south-east in constellation Virgo. You’ll see it roughly 4 degrees north of Virgo’s bright star Spica. When seen with your naked eye Saturn looks like a yellowish “star”. Look through a telescope and you’ll see Saturn’s rings, with some atmospheric detail on the planet. The rings are still at a nice angle for viewing. Through a telescope not only the planet will be visible, but some of its moons too. Saturn could get 755 Earths into its volume, and has a storm at its north pole in the shape of a Hexagon with 6 straight sides, each 13,800 kilometres long. The mysterious “Earth like” world Titan is the largest and brightest of Saturn’s moons, with hills, valleys, rivers, lakes, wind, and rain.
Moons, Titan, Rhea, Iapetus, Dione, Tethys, Enceladus, Mimas, Hyperion, Phoebe, Janus, Epimetheus, Prometheus, Pandora, and down to smaller and smaller moons totallling 60.
Coordinates for Saturn RA 13h, 32m / DEC -6, 43′
Tonight Saturn is visible lying in constellation Virgo climbing from the south-east sky in early evening forming a pair with the bright star Spica. Saturn is the one to the north, about 4 degrees above Spica. During the night the ringed gas giant moves over to the south where it gets to its highest in the sky at 10.58 pm. Saturn eventually sets in the west after daybreak. Saturn has a magnitude of 0.64 and an angular size of 44.0″ arc seconds.
How long will Saturn be visible? Saturn will be visible in the sky now for some time, not going out of sight until the beginning of October 2012 when it will be low to the horizon near the setting Sun. Opposition came on April 15th 2012.
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The Ice Giants
Uranus and Neptune are more of a challenge to observe than the inner planets like Mars and Venus, so you will usually need a larger telescope, you will not see them naked eye. They will appear as small disks, even in a large amateur scope.
Uranus
Uranus from Hubble
Uranus is back on view again as a morning planet, rising just before the Sun in the east after going into the Sun’s glow at dusk during mid March 2012. It is the second furthest planet from the Sun, and the coldest world in the solar system. Uranus is made of gas hydrogen and helium, and also water ice, methane, and ammonia. It lies out at roughly 3 billion kilometres from the Sun, and orbits it once every 84 years. Uranus is lying on its side compared to all the other planets, as something catastrophic happened early on knocking the planet way of kilter. This might have been a collision with another planet sized object in the chaotic environment, and jostling for position of the young solar system. Uranus is so badly affected that in its 84 year orbit around the Sun, the south pole gets continuous sunlight while the north is in permanent darkness. Then for the other 42 years the north gets bathed in sunshine, while the south gets the darkness.
Moons, Miranda, Ariel, Umbrial, Titania, Oberon, and smaller and smaller satellites totalling 27
Coordinates for Uranus RA 0h, 27m / DEC 2, 15′
Tomorrow morning Uranus is rising from the east at 3.33 am, on the border between constellations Cetus and Pisces. It has a magnitude of 6.24, and a angular size of 3.0“ arc seconds
How long will Uranus be visible? Uranus is rising in the east just as day breaks, and will then continue to rise earlier and earlier into the darker pre dawn hours. By the 13th of July 2012 it will be rising at midnight, and will not got out of sight until mid March 2013, when it disappears into the west at dusk.
Neptune
Neptune is now viewable as a morning planet, rising in the east before sunrise. It is the furthest planet out from the Sun, but not the coldest. Uranus is actually colder even though it’s the second furthest from the Sun, as its internal heat source seems to have shut down. Neptune’s vivid blue colour is due to methane in its atmosphere. This ice giant is a long way out, and even in large telescopes it will appear small and star like.
Moons, Triton, Proteus, Nereid, Larissa, Galatea, Despina, Thalassa, Naiad, Halimede, Sao, Laomedeia, Neso, Psamathe.
Coordinates for Neptune RA 22h 20m / DEC -10 55′
Tomorrow morning Neptune is in constellation Aquarius, rising at 2.52 am, with a magnitude of 7.73 , and an angular diameter of 2.0 arc seconds
How long will Neptune be visible? The ice giant is now back as a morning planet rising from the east pre dawn. It will gradually rise earlier and earlier, and become a late evening planet by August 2012. Neptune will be around for some considerable time, going out of sight in the glare of the setting Sun at the beginning of February 2013.
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