Brilliant Venus falls out [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of the evening sky as March ends, but Jupiter and Saturn remain well up above the western horizon. Jupiter [
http://www.jpl.nasa…] blazes forth above and to the left of a slightly fainter Saturn [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in this telephoto picture taken on January 19th. Near the top lies the lovely Pleiades [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] star cluster with suggestions of its characteristic blue reflection nebulae [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…apod_search?reflecti on nebula ]. These planets and the Pleiades have a similar, easily recognizable orientation in the Spring night sky. Also known as M45 [
http://www.seds.org…], the 45th object in French astronomer Charles Messier's [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] famous catalog, the Pleiades will likely soon be checked off many stargazers' tally lists. For northern hemisphere observers this weekend offers a prime opportunity to complete a Messier Marathon [
http://www.seds.org…marathon.html ] -- the viewing of all 110 Messier catalog objects [
http://www.seds.org…] in one glorious [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] dusk to dawn observing run. This weekend it will also be possible to complete an all-planet marathon, observing all the solar system's [
http://space.jpl.na…] planets in a single night. And if you still need something to look at, the International Space Station [
http://www.hq.nasa.…issvis.html ] could also be visible arcing through the skies depending on your location, but Mir will not [
http://www.russians…].
Explanation
Brilliant Venus falls out [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of the evening sky as March ends, but Jupiter and Saturn remain well up above the western horizon. Jupiter [
http://www.jpl.nasa…] blazes forth above and to the left of a slightly fainter Saturn [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in this telephoto picture taken on January 19th. Near the top lies the lovely Pleiades [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] star cluster with suggestions of its characteristic blue reflection nebulae [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…apod_search?reflecti on nebula ]. These planets and the Pleiades have a similar, easily recognizable orientation in the Spring night sky. Also known as M45 [
http://www.seds.org…], the 45th object in French astronomer Charles Messier's [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] famous catalog, the Pleiades will likely soon be checked off many stargazers' tally lists. For northern hemisphere observers this weekend offers a prime opportunity to complete a Messier Marathon [
http://www.seds.org…marathon.html ] -- the viewing of all 110 Messier catalog objects [
http://www.seds.org…] in one glorious [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] dusk to dawn observing run. This weekend it will also be possible to complete an all-planet marathon, observing all the solar system's [
http://space.jpl.na…] planets in a single night. And if you still need something to look at, the International Space Station [
http://www.hq.nasa.…issvis.html ] could also be visible arcing through the skies depending on your location, but Mir will not [
http://www.russians…].
Explanation
