Planets in the night!

[Poirot]

Anyone know where exactly in the night sky (northen hemisphere of course)all the planets should be at this moment in time. I have a astronmy boomk but iam still struggling to spot them

[carlos_dfc]

Hi Poirot

Unfortunately, only 2 planets are easy to see at the moment.....Mars and Saturn.

Jupiter sweeps very low across the South, but it's daylight pretty soon after it rises, it is possible to see it though, low to the SSE, just before dawn.
Mercury and Venus are both currently very close to the Sun - Mercury sets just after the Sun, and Venus rises just before the Sun - both JUST possible, but timing is of the essence.
Uranus and Neptune are both to the right of the Sun, not visible by naked-eye, but just about binocular possibilities if you know where to look - unfortunately, both are rising not long before the Sun, so the sky is already brightening by the time they are above the horizon, which makes them even harder to spot than usual.

Mars, is in Gemini.
Around 10pm, look West, about 45° up - you should see 3 quite prominent stars in a little group. The two higher ones are the Gemini twins, Castor and Pollux - the orangey one, the lower, and left-most of the 3, is Mars.

Saturn is in Leo
Again, at around 10pm, look to the South, about 45° up - Again you're looking for the 3 most prominent stars in the area. Two are quite close together, with the 3rd a bit higher up. The higher one is Algieba (marking Leo's shoulder) - of the lower 2, the right (and lowest) one is the star Regulus, the cream-coloured one, left and up a bit from Regulus, is Saturn.