GREETINGS STAR GAZERS!
THIS WEEK IS THE GREAT WESTERN ELONGATION
FOR VENUS AND THE AFTERMATH OF THE GREAT EASTERN
ELONGATION FOR MERCURY!
ELONGATION IS A MEASURE OF WHERE THE PLANETS
ARE RELATIVE TO THE SUN AND US ON EARTH!
PUT YOUR ARMS OUT LIKE THIS, POINT AT THE
SUN WITH ONE HAND, AND VENUS WITH YOUR
OTHER HAND.
THIS ANGLE IS THE ELONGATION!
AND BOTH VENUS AND MERCURY ARE HITTING THEIR
GREATEST ELONGATIONS THIS TIME OF YEAR -- OR
THEIR LARGEST ANGLES RELATIVE TO THE SUN.
VENUS WILL REACH ABOUT FORTY FIVE DEGREES
BEFORE SUNSET, AND MERCURY WILL PEAK AT ABOUT
TEN DEGREES BEFORE SUNRISE.
REMEMBER TEN DEGREES IS ABOUT THE SAME AS
THE HEIGHT OF A FIST ON AN OUTSTRETCHED ARM.
BY WATCHING THE PLANETS LIKE THIS COPERNICUS
WAS ABLE TO CALCULATE THE DISTANCES OF THEIR
ORBITS BACK IN THE FIFTEEN HUNDREDS!
IMAGINE, JUST, FIGURING THAT OUT
WOW.
GO ELONG-- AND KEEP LOOKIN UP!