THE M PLANETS

DEAN:
HEY THERE STAR GAZERS, I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER

FOR THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY.

JAMES:
AND I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA

SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA.

WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND
THE SKY.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS TRY ALL SORTS OF
WAYS TO GET THEIR STUDENTS TO REMEMBER THE

ORDER OF THE PLANETS.

DEAN:
MY FAVORITE HAS TO BE THE SAYING, MY VERY

EDUCATED MOTHER JUST SERVED US NACHOS.

JAMES:
YUM.

I COULD GO FOR SOME NACHOS RIGHT NOW.

DEAN:
ME TOO, BUT, JAMES,

WE NEED TO FOCUS.

THE FIRST LETTER OF EACH WORD STANDS THE FIRST
LETTER OF EACH PLANET.

JAMES:
SO MY IS FOR MERCURY.

THE CLOSEST PLANET TO THE SUN.

VERY IS FOR VENUS AND ALL THE WAY TO THE FARTHEST
PLANET FROM THE SUN, NACHOS,

I MEAN NEPTUNE.

DEAN:
OF COURSE THERE ARE TWO MS IN THERE.

MERCURY AND MARS.

AND IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT THE TWO M-PLANETS
ARE COMING TOGETHER IN THE EVENING SKY.

JAMES:
AND THAT MEANS ITS CONJUNCTION TIME!

DEAN:
LETS HEAD TO THE SKY AND CHECK IT ALL OUT!

DEAN:
OKAY, WE HAVE OUR SKIES SET UP FOR SATURDAY

NIGHT, JUNE 15TH JUST AFTER SUNSET, FACING
TOWARD THE NORTHWEST.

AS THE SUN SETS,
THE STARS WILL START

TO POP OUT.

JAMES:
NOW FINDING OUR

M-PLANETS IS GOING TO BE A TOUGH ASSIGNMENT.

YOU WILL NEED A CLEAR VIEW TO THE NORTHWESTERN
HORIZON AND YOULL HAVE TO TIME IT PERFECTLY.

DEAN:
LOOK TOO EARLY AND IT'LL STILL BE TOO BRIGHT

OUTSIDE.

JAMES:
LOOK TOO LATE AND THEY WILL HAVE SET.

DEAN:
JUST ABOVE THE HORIZON, AND I MEAN JUST ABOVE

THE HORIZON, YOU MAY SEE TWO STARS APPEAR
VERY CLOSE TOGETHER.

JAMES:
THE BRIGHTER OF THE TWO IS THE ELUSIVE PLANET

MERCURY, WHILE THE DIMMER ONE IS THE RED PLANET
MARS.

DEAN:
LET'S LOOK AT THIS FROM SPACE TO SEE HOW TWO

PLANETS, THAT ARE VERY FAR AWAY FROM EACH
OTHER, LOOK ALL LINED UP.

DEAN:
HERE WE ARE, HIGH ABOVE THE SOLAR SYSTEM,

LOOKING DOWN ON THE INNER PLANETS.

THERES MERCURY, VENUS, EARTH, AND MARS.

JAMES:
NO NACHOS UNFORTUNATELY.

DEAN:
NO, NEPTUNE IS BILLIONS OF MILES OUT OF THE

PICTURE.

JAMES:
THE PLANETS REVOLVE AROUND THE SUN IN THE

SAME DIRECTION, BUT THEY DONT GO THE SAME
SPEED.

THE CLOSER YOU ARE TO THE SUN, THE FASTER
YOU GO.

DEAN:
SO WHILE IT TAKES EARTH 365 DAYS TO CIRCLE

THE SUN, IT ONLY TAKE MERCURY 88 DAYS.

AND MARS, WHOS MOVING A LOT SLOWER, TAKES
687 DAYS.

JAMES:
NOW AS WE APPROACH MID-JUNE, 2019, WE WILL

SEE THE ALIGNMENT OF MERCURY AND MARS.

MERCURY IS IN BETWEEN US AND THE SUN AND ONLY
ABOUT 90 MILLION MILES AWAY.

DEAN:
"ONLY 90 MILLION MILES!"

HE SAYS,
BECAUSE MARS IS ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE

SUN AND IS A WHOPPING 232 MILLION MILES AWAY!

THIS IS WHY TINY MERCURY SEEMS SO MUCH BRIGHTER
THAN LARGER MARS.

ITS A LOT CLOSER TO US.

JAMES:
SO THESE M-PLANETS ONLY APPEAR CLOSE TOGETHER

FROM EARTH.

LETS HEAD BACK HOME TO SEE THE PEAK OF THE
CONJUNCTION.

JAMES:
OKAY, WE'RE BACK ON EARTH ON JUNE 15TH SEEING

MERCURY AT 90 MILLION MILES AWAY, AND MARS
AT 232 MILLION MILES AWAY.

WHAT MAKES PLANETS INTERESTING TO OBSERVE
IS HOW THEY MOVE FROM NIGHT TO NIGHT.

DEAN:
LETS MOVE TIME FORWARD, ONE NIGHT AT A TIME.

HERES JUNE 16TH

JUNE 17TH

AND JUNE 18TH.

JAMES:
MERCURY SEEMS TO SNUGGLE UP NEXT TO MARS AND

HERES THE ZOOMED IN VIEW.

THEY'LL ONLY BE ABOUT A QUARTER OF A
DEGREE APART,

SO YOU MAY BE ABLE TO SEE BOTH PLANETS THROUGH
A TELESCOPE AT THE SAME TIME.

DEAN:
OF COURSE YOUR VIEW WONT BE NEARLY AS GOOD

AS THESE.

THIS IS THE VIEW OF MERCURY FROM THE MESSENGER
SPACECRAFT WHICH ORBITED THERE FROM 2011 TO

2015.

JAMES:
AND HERE IS THE GLOBAL MAP OF MARS TAKEN BY

THE MANY ORBITING SATELLITES WE SENT UP THERE.

DEAN:
THE M-PLANETS ARE TRULY MARVELOUS!

CLOSE-UP ENDING

JAMES:
SO THERE YOU HAVE IT.

HOW TO LOOK FOR MERCURY AND MARS IN THE NIGHT
SKY THIS WEEKEND.

DEAN:
MERCURY IS ALWAYS TOUGH TO FIND SINCE IT DOESN'T

STRAY FAR FROM THE SUN.

JAMES:
AND THIS MIGHT BE THE LAST CHANCE TO SEE MARS

BEFORE IT HEADS BEHIND THE SUN.

DEAN:
AND IF YOU NEVER LEARNED THE ORDER OF THE

PLANETS - SHAME ON YOUR TEACHERS - REPEAT
THE SAYING DAILY, MY VERY EDUCATED MOTHER

JUST SERVED US NACHOS.

JAMES:
WE HAVE TO DO A SHOW ON NEPTUNE.

DEAN:
JUST SO WE CAN GET SOME NACHOS?

JAMES:
EXACTLY!

DEAN:
THE UNIVERSE IS FULL OF PLANETS AND NACHOS,

AND IT'S ALL THERE WHEN YOU

BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!