From Newsgroup: sci.space.news


http://stardate.org/mediacenter/201105-four-planets-huddle-dawn-next-week  

Four Planets Huddle Up Before Dawn Next Week

Contact: Rebecca Johnson
Editor, StarDate magazine
512-475-6763; rjohnson{at}stardate.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2011

Four of the five planets visible to the unaided eye huddle quite close
together in the pre-dawn sky next week, according to the editors of
StarDate  magazine.
http://stardate.org/magazine>.

On the morning of May 10, Venus and Jupiter will stand side by side,
quite low in the east, as dawn brightens. So long as you have a horizon
clear of buildings and trees, they will be easy to spot. They are the
brightest objects in the night sky after the Moon. Venus is the brighter
of the two; Jupiter is to its left.

Mercury is visible to the lower right of Venus, about the same distance
as Venus is to Jupiter. It isn't nearly as bright, but its proximity to
Venus will help you find it. Finally, Mars is about twice as far to the
lower left of Jupiter. It's so low and faint that it will be difficult
to see, but binoculars may help.

The best view is from the southern states because the path the planets
follow across the sky (the ecliptic) stands at a little higher angle
relative to the horizon.

Published bi-monthly by The University of Texas at Austin McDonald
Observatory, StarDate magazine provides readers with skywatching tips,
skymaps, beautiful astronomical photos, astronomy news and features, and
a 32-page Sky Almanac each January.

Established in 1932, The University of Texas at Austin McDonald
Observatory http://mcdonaldobservatory.org> near Fort Davis, Texas,
hosts multiple telescopes undertaking a wide range of astronomical
research under the darkest night skies of any professional observatory
in the continental United States. McDonald is home to the consortium-run
Hobby-Eberly Telescope, one of the world's largest, which will soon be
upgraded to begin the HET Dark Energy Experiment http://hetdex.org>. An
internationally known leader in astronomy education and outreach,
McDonald Observatory is also pioneering the next generation of
astronomical research as a founding partner of the Giant Magellan
Telescope http://www.gmto.org>.
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