Planet trio

Looks like we're gonna have an unusual planet line-up beginning Dec.7.Jupiter,Mercury,and Mars will be in view in a small circle in the east to southeast sky.The best time will be around 6:30am.You find more out on www.space.com .Clear skies,Darrell

http://www.spaceweather.com

Spaceweather had a series of maps of the event, covering several days. You will need to check the archive (on right) for the Nov 29 page. I'm sure it will be repeated in the coming days. This site is great for timely events and is on my "daily" list of bookmarks.

Here's a direct link to the map of Dec 8:
http://www.spaceweather.com/images2006/08dec06/skymap_north.gif

Jeff

Here's what I had to say in my monthly astronomical calendar:

Mercury (which is still undergoing its best morning apparition of 2006), Mars, and Jupiter fit within a circle with a 5 degree diameter from December 7 to December 14 and a 2 degree circle from December 9 to December 11. On December 10, Mercury and Jupiter are separated by 17'. Mars and Jupiter are 48’ apart on December 11. Prior to dawn on December 10, the three planets come within a degree of each other, the closest approach of three naked-eye planets from 1980 through 2050. (The 2.5 magnitude binary star Beta Scorpii (Graffias) fits into a 1.1 degree diameter circle with the three planets that morning.) Unfortunately, the planetary trio will be very low in the east-southeast during morning twilight so clear skies and good horizons will be necessary to see them.

Dave Mitsky