"A Sky Full Of Planets For Christmas!"

Scheduled air date: 1998 Dec 21-27

During Christmas week, all of the naked-eye planets are visible!  In the evening sky, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn can be seen after Sunset.  The Moon also appears to pass near these planets while progressing from New Moon toward Full.
(Shown about 30 minutes after Sunset for mid-Northern latitudes.)

While in the morning sky, Mercury and Mars can be seen before Sunrise, with the bright red star Antares appearing near Mercury, the planet closest to our Sun.
(Shown at mid-week, about an hour before Sunrise, for mid-Northern latitudes.)

If you wish to view illustrations for other episodes, please see our Star Gazer Illustrated directory.

Illustrations on this page were created using TheSky Astronomy Software, an advanced desktop planetarium program designed for Windows. Copyright © 1999-2006 by Software Bisque, Inc.