Media Relations
Tuesday,
September 9,
2003
Star Trak
The annual Perseid meteor shower will peak before dawn on Aug. 12. This year the Perseids will be competing with the nearly full moon at first, but after the moon sets there will be many bright streaks in the sky. Three planets -- Venus, Saturn and Mercury -- will form a tight triangle low in the western sky on several evenings. The triangle will be different each night as the planets change places.
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Saturn and Mars will have a close encounter low in the western sky an hour after sunset on July 9 and 10. Watch each evening for the first ten days of the month as red-orange Mars is lured away by Saturn from a dalliance with the bright white star Regulus.
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Jupiter, the giant of the solar system, will rise earlier each evening and be visible most of the night as it crosses the southern sky during June. Usually this is the best chance to see the huge planet, especially with a telescope. Unfortunately it is quite low in the sky this time around, still easy to find but with more of the murky turbulence of Earth's atmosphere for its light to penetrate.
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During the second and third weeks of May, look for Mercury low in the west-northwest about an hour after sunset. If you've never seen the smallest planet, you'll have an especially good chance. This will be Mercury's best evening appearance of the year.
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The Pleiades star cluster will have a beautiful encounter with the slender moon in the western sky after sunset on April 8. Usually the moon's brightness overpowers nearby stars, but not when it's such a thin crescent. Binoculars will reveal the spectacle as the moon passes just below the famous Seven Sisters.
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