Have you noticed that it feels unusually cold outside these evenings? In March, plus 2 will feel downright balmy, but we’re still in summer mode. Standing around in our backyard at night is not high on our priority list unless there’s a good bonfire going, so I’ll limit this to short, hands mainly in the pockets, stuff.
If you can see down to the western horizon and step out at 6:30pm or so, that bright beacon is Venus. Venus will be with us for the next while, appearing a little higher in the sky each week through February. In case anyone asks, it currently lies in the constellation Libra.
By 7pm, Venus will have set, and Saturn can be found low in the southwest at 7pm, setting by 8. Don’t confuse it with the bright star Arcturus, higher up straight west. Saturn is on the east edge of Scorpio.
Mars, the Red Planet, can be found a little west of south. It currently lies just above the ‘Teapot’ asterism (star grouping) in Sagittarius. Take your left hand out of your pocket and make a fist. Extend it in front of you, so it’s just to the right of Mars. Rotate your hand slightly clockwise, and stick out your thumb just a bit. If you carefully followed directions, your thumb is now covering the Black Hole at the centre of our galaxy.
Now, being extremely careful to not disturb anything, carefully remove your fist and instead place your thumb right on Mars. Pluto lies invisibly above your middle knuckle.
Now move your fist over so that it lies just to the right of the Moon. You are now in Aquarius, and your thumb covers Neptune. Neptune is a binocular object, but only on a dark, moonless night and both hands out of your pockets holding binoculars. So, for now, mark that point in the sky and we’ll come back to it in a few weeks.
Now, while this ‘fist’ measurement will work with Mars through the weekend, it works for Neptune only on the 13th because the Moon moves so fast daily. By Saturday the 15th, it will have left Neptune far behind to lie in the constellation Pisces, a couple of finger-widths below Uranus.
Put your hands back in your pockets. Uranus is a naked eye object under a dark sky, and a gimme with binoculars, but not with the Full Moon just below it. Again, mark the spot for now.
The way the planets are currently aligned, if you were to begin your day an hour before sunrise to catch Mercury and Jupiter, now that you know where to look, you could see all eight planets, plus Pluto, in the same day, and mostly with your hands in your pockets. Nothing Earth-shattering; just thought you should know.
