inner-planet year-long recap/look ahead

Event Date: March 18th

Time: various

  As we round out the astronomical new year tomorrow and part of the 20th (up to the exact minute of the equinox), I will do a brief summary of the inner planets' positioning today, including images of where they are in the sky.  I will also show their celestial paths, as a reminder of how their revolution periods have us see them moving against the stars.  As a result, no brief/detailed sections here.  I did this not long ago with a few of the planets, yet this time, will cover all of the "classical" 8, in two separate entries.  Here it goes!

Mercury: as mentioned the last two entries, it is now emerging further from the Sun in separation, with its poorest morning apparition of the year for mid-northern latitude viewers.  This follows two very good apparitions, with one previous morning one and these two sandwiching an evening one with the planet at perihelion.

Venus: Nearly at superior conjunction, the planet will not be easily visible to even the eye for another two months.  By then, the late Sunsets mean that we will have to wait until late-evening hours to see it easily with the eye.  We will have the planet east of the Sun for the remainder of the calendar year, with the geometry of the western sky varying greatly during that time.

Mars: As the case with Venus, our other "neighbor" planet will be at conjunction very soon.  Unlike Venus however, much dimmer Mars will not be easily visible to the eye until late in the year.  It will be a victim of poor, morning eastern sky geometry, while taking several weeks to emerge from the Sun.  Opposition happens early next year, yet until only about two months before then, Mars will only appear like a dull star to the eye.  

Now, for the images:  Aside from the retrograde "loop" for Mercury recently, the paths look very similar.  Look at the increment markers however, 10 days apart: despite speeding up in prograde motion, leading to the markers spreading out, Venus has done the same.  Therefore, the latter's markers are further separated.  If I was able to show the entire 360º of azimuth (i.e. looking straight down towards and through zenith), I would beable to show the interesting retrograde paths of the planets.  However, I have shown those enough times this year that if you want a reminder, just refer back to past entries this year.  Although I haven't plotted paths of each for all of those entries, just think back to how the planets have moved against the stars.  Rather than rely on software and internet sites the whole time, also view the planets with your eyes, and enjoy them passing near stars!

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