A night of four planets

We are in the depths of winter, and the prospect of stargazing on a cold Otago night may seem uninviting. However, I really hope to be able to persuade you to leave the comfort of your home and go out to enjoy some fascinating views after the sun sets.

This week's chart of the sky shows the entire sky. Hold it over your head and align the cardinal points with your local horizon. You should be able to use it to help you choose the brightest stars and planets.

The map shows the sky at 8 pm, and, in addition to the marvelous view of the Southern Cross, four of the five naked- the ocular planets are waiting to be discovered (only Mercury is missing).

Venus is by far the brightest planet to see. It will be visible as an extraordinarily bright "star" just five degrees above the northwest horizon. This week, Venus goes to bed just after 8:30 pm, so you'll need an unobstructed view to spot it. If you have a telescope, you should be able to see that its tiny disk, which is more than 150 million kilometers from us, looks like a descending gibbous moon.

Once you have spent time contemplating Venus, North. If the sky is clear, it will be impossible to miss Jupiter, visible as a bright yellow "star" which, during the period we are talking about, will be at nearly 60 degrees above the northern horizon. Jupiter is not as bright as Venus, but undoubtedly dominates the northern sky.

Saturn is the darkest planet and novice astronomers may find it difficult to spot it. If you want to find it, draw an imaginary line of Jupiter through the bright orange star Antares; If you extend the line beyond Antares, Saturn is the first bright "star" to which you arrive.

Mars is the final target of this week's planetary tour. You should have no trouble finding it as an incredibly bright red object down in the East sky. Mars is fast approaching, and this week is only 65 million kilometers away.