some planets very visible right now

[paisley]

is a good time for doing a little planet gazing this week...

Saturday Mars will pass very close by, not back this close until at least 2018... visible in the later hours, say between 2am and dawn

the event is being marked by star parties in many communities.

and Venus is visible near the horizon around sunset for a couple more weeks

venus near the crescent moon

Calling attention to itself as soon as the Sun goes down, VENUS shines brilliantly in the western sky about 10° above the horizon. Telescopic views of the planet reveal a disk 40" across and only 20 percent illuminated.

One of the handful of planets known to the ancients, Venus is often called Earth's sister planet because of its similar size and distance from the Sun. Despite these similarities, however, in other ways Venus is very much unlike Earth. The planet is so hot and forbidding that it might be a good place to film Dante's Inferno.

[Cully]

I miss seeing you...

[Schwa.]

get a room stargayzers

[Baj]

or make one

http://www.stargaze.info/

[paisley]

if you look really hard you might see Uranus

[dieseldoug]

If you look closely at that picture you can see Saturn about 3/4 of an inch away from the moon at about 3:00. Also you can make out another star/planet at about 1:00 approx. one inch from Venus.