comparing the outer and inner planets' visibliity

Event Date: March 13th

Time: 7:30 PM

Brief

   This is a quiet time for our closest-neighbor planets when it comes to trying to view them: Mercury, Venus and Mars are all near conjunction, or in the case of the former, emerging low in the glare of twilight.

     With that said, as we wait to see these three again, we have Jupiter getting low in the west each day, and Saturn rising during mid-evening hours, not far from opposition.  As shown about a week ago, Saturn and Jupiter are very slowly closing in on each other between now and late 2020.  The two images are reminders of where they are in the sky.  The first shows Jupiter as if we were viewing with our eyes looking left-- of the north celestial pole; see more in the detailed section.

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

Detailed

   Within the boundaries of Taurus and headed towards Gemini, Jupiter continues to gradually increase in declination.  The next time we see it transit far enough from the glare of the Sun, or during dark hours, it will be about as far north as it will get for the next 12 years, and be very close to where the Sun is at the June solstice.  As a result of that, viewers in the far southern U.S. latitudes and some in Mexico, north-central Africa and far-east island-countries will see it at or near zenith during some dates during this year and next.  Its switching from pro-grade to retrograde and back again keeps it at the Taurus/Gemimi border for awhile.

   As for Saturn, it is about half as far south, as Jupiter is soon to be north.  Saturn rises not long before midnight this week.  Its elongation with Jupiter is large enough that we have to wait until Jupiter sets before seeing Saturn.  However, that gap will shrink several degrees each year and by about 2018, we will see both giant planets near each other in the same part of the sky.  A magnificent close encounter happens, and it will be extremely telescope-friendy under low magnifications (between 50-70x).