JAMES:
Welcome to Star Gazers.
I'm James Albury, director of the Kika Silva
Pla Planetarium in Gainesville, Florida.
DEAN:
And I'm Dean Regas, astronomer from the Cincinnati
Observatory, and we're here to help you find
you way around the sky.
As we get into the month of March, James and
I would like to issue you a challenge.
JAMES:
That s right Dean.
We re looking for keen-eyed star gazers
to locate the two closest planets to the Sun.
DEAN:
We re talking Mercury and Venus.
Now, I m warning you.
This could be tough.
Mercury and Venus are just now emerging from
the far side of the Sun and will be popping
out in the western sky just after sunset.
JAMES:
You will have to time this just right and
have a clear view to the western horizon and
even then you might not be able to see them.
They will slowly appear farther from the Sun
as the month progresses.
DEAN:
The challenge is this: what is the first day
you can spot them both in the sky.
JAMES: Oooh, I like it!
DEAN: Challenge issued.
JAMES: Challenge accepted!
DEAN: Let s head to the sky!
DEAN:
Okay, we have the sky set for February 25th
facing west.
The Sun is about to set and as it does we
want to look for suspiciously bright lights
near the horizon.
JAMES:
The brightest planet in the night sky is Venus
and it should be the first of our two planets
to pop into view as the sky darkens.
There it is just above the treetops.
Now it will be extremely low in the sky so
you will need a viewing spot free from trees
or buildings.
And of course it has to be clear out!
DEAN:
Mercury, on the other hand, may be the real
challenge to find in February.
It is way dimmer than Venus and tends to get
lost in the haze above the horizon.
But as the weeks roll on, Mercury will become
easier to spot.
Here is the sky, same time of night on February
26
27
28 and March 1st.
JAMES:
Venus appears higher in the sky and you see
that little dot next to it?
That is the elusive planet Mercury.
Most people have never seen Mercury (or at
least they probably never noticed it), but
Venus will help.
On March 2nd they ll be closer still and
on March 3rd
They ll be in conjunction!
DEAN:
James favorite time of the year!
Let s fly up there to get a closer look
at our two innermost planets.
JAMES:
The reason Mercury and Venus can be so tough
to see is because they re in between us
and the Sun.
They re up in the sky as much as any other
planet but most of the time the Sun is there
with them.
It s so bright outside you can t find
their feeble light.
DEAN:
But at certain places in their orbits we can
see them either just after sunset or just
before sunrise.
These positions are called elongations when
the Sun seems farthest from them
in the sky.
JAMES:
If we want to fly to Venus, it would still
be quite a trip.
It is over 150 million miles from Earth this
week.
Unfortunately, from above, there wouldn t
be
a lot to see.
DEAN:
Venus is perpetually covered in clouds.
The clouds reflect a lot of sunlight and trap
in a whole lot of heat.
So Venus, although farther from the Sun than
Mercury, is the hottest planet.
JAMES:
That s right!
The surface of Venus swelters at around 900
degrees Fahrenheit!
DEAN:
If we quickly hop over to Mercury we will
find a very different planet.
JAMES:
Look, no clouds!
We can see the surface of Mercury every
mountain and every crater.
At least we can now thanks to the Messenger
spacecraft which mapped out Mercury a few
years ago.
DEAN:
We actually didn t know what half of Mercury
looked like until 2011.
It s so close to the Sun that it is really
tough to view from Earth.
DEAN:
So take the Venus-Mercury challenge and see
when you can first spot the two planets.
JAMES:
Look to the western horizon every clear night
just after sunset.
If conditions are just right and you have
keen eyesight you may see them on March 1st,
2nd, or 3rd.
DEAN:
Or maybe you have such amazing, eagle-eyes
that you may find Venus and Mercury in February.
JAMES:
We ll definitely be looking.
Let us know when you see them and try to find
them before we do.
DEAN: Accept our challenge as you
BOTH: Keep looking up!