CONJUNCTIONS (groupings)
of PLANETS during Winter-Spring 2009

Be VERY CAREFUL NOT TO OBSERVE SUN DIRECTLY!  INSTANT BLINDNESS CAN OCCUR!!!  Instruments can explode!!! Wait until Sun has actually set or
complete viewing prior to sunrise with binoculars or telescope!!!  
  
The two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, now dominate the evening sky,
both visible shortly after evening twilight begins:  Venus to upper left,
and Jupiter sinking to lower right in SW post-sunset sky.
     
Compare the brightness of Venus and Jupiter (which is so much more distant!).
These are both interesting objects in a telescope.   How can you distinguish
them with or without a telescope? (See bottom of page for clues.)
When will Venus stop appearing to move to the left/east?  What does that
tell us about the path of Venus?

Mercury, which appeared to "meet" Jupiter the last week of December, continues its ascent away from Jupiter and toward Venus, but alack, Mercury's orbit is much smaller than Venus', so by January 12th, Mercury will appear to turn back sunward,
and will shortly be lost in the Sun's glare.  Jupiter will also soon be lost in the glare of the sunset, returning to view in the morning sky in two more months, doing another dance with Venus in a few more months.

Saturn reappears low in eastern late night/early morning sky, under
the prominent constellation, Leo.   Look for the bright golden dot.
You may be surprised to NOT find the usually apparent rings!  What
has happened to our favorite planet, did hostile space aliens steal the
rings? 
Actually, every 14-15 years, due to the orbital positions and orientations
of Saturn relative to Earth, we view the rings edge-on, we are level with
them.  Thus, since they are only about a mile thick, they disappear from
view for a few weeks.  This "ring plane crossing" last took place in 1995,
you can find a great set of images of this on the Hubblesite.org website.
This isn't the full crossing yet, although the angle is pretty level.
Don't despair, the rings will be back visible by later in January, although
they will pull their vanishing act more completely later on in 2009. 
The NASA News website has a more complete article about this.
 
Venus meets Neptune December 26th, 600 PM, you’ll need binoculars to see Neptune, bluish dot. 

Venus meets Uranus January 22nd, binoculars should show greenish dot for Uranus.  
Most of the planets switch to group in predawn morning sky during Spring, so if you don’t like to get up early, this Fall is the time to spot planets in the evening! Please be careful not to get the Sun in your vision (will be very temporary vision if you do that!)  Happy planet hunting!

Venus vs. Jupiter clues:  Naked eye differences: brightness, amount of shift each night.  Telescopic differences: atmospheres, phase visible, moons. 
Check 'em out, see if you can tell which one is which.

A comet may grace our late Winter/early Spring skies, brightening to
near unaided-eye visibility level.  This is Comet Lulin, officially
designated C/2007 N3.  Keep track of it's progress and it's location on
various web sites, try the Sky&Telescope site after the Holidays.