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A clear sky tonight will give sky observers on the east coast of Gisborne the perfect chance to see a series of major planets and stars spread in the skies in the early evening.
By a happy coincidence, a number of visible planets are what astronomers call opposition – when their orbits and Earth's orbit place them closest to us and on the night of our planet, out of the glare of the sun.
This means that the planets currently in or near the opposition are gathered in the same area of the sky – for our viewing convenience.
Just after dark, looking to the west, the first planet that we can see is the small pink tinted Mercury – usually hidden by the sun's glare.
Following a path in an arc across the sky, the next bright object – above and to the right – is the bright star Regulus.
Continuing even further to the right and higher is the shining planet Venus, with the new Moon on her right.
Continuing further to the right and looking further north is the sparkling and shining star Spica, followed to its right by the mighty Jupiter, the giant of the outer planets.
Not far from the right of Jupiter, and in the constellation of Scorpio (the scorpion) stands the red star Antares – a giant 300 times the diameter of our Sun.
Going down to the east, the giant planet surrounded by Saturn is the next in the parade. Viewers will need a small telescope to see its rings.
Finally, the reddish planet Mars is low on the east-southeast horizon, but it increases as the night deepens.
These planets and stars will be visible in the night sky for the rest of the month, although regular observers of the sky will note that their positions will change as they move forward in their different orbits.
A clear sky tonight will give sky observers on the east coast of Gisborne the perfect chance to see a series of major planets and stars stretch into the heavens in the early evening.
By a happy coincidence, a number of visible planets are what astronomers call the opposition – when their orbits and Earth orbit place them closest to us and on the night of our planet, out of the sun's glare.
This means that the planets currently in or near the opposition are gathered in the same area of the sky – for our viewing convenience.
Just after dark, looking to the west, the first planet that we can see is the little pink tinted Mercury – usually hidden by the sun's glare. Following a path in an arc across the sky, the next bright object – higher and right – is the bright star Regulus.
Continuing farther to the right and higher is the shining planet Venus, with the new Moon to her right
Going Forward And looking further north is the shining star glittering Spica, followed on his right by the mighty Jupiter, the giant of the outer planets.
Not far to the right of Jupiter, and in the constellation Scorpio (the scorpion) is the red star Antares – a giant 300 times the diameter of our Sun.
Going down to the east, the giant planet surrounded by Saturn is next in the parade. Viewers will need a small telescope to see its rings.
Finally, the reddish planet Mars is low on the east-southeast horizon, but it increases as the night increases.
These planets and stars will be visible in the night. sky for the rest of the month, although regular sky watchers will notice that their positions will change as they move forward in their different orbits.
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