"The Venus Challenge"

Scheduled air date: 2000 Feb 21-27

On March 3rd, a thin Waning Crescent Moon will appear near the planet Venus—presently the Morning Star—in the pre-dawn sky.  A small telescope will also reveal the planets Uranus just to the lower left of Venus, and Neptune above and to the right of the Moon (inset).
A little more than a week later, Venus will be making its final morning appearances this year, dipping below elusive Mercury—the closest planet to the Sun.  Venus will return in September as the Evening Star.
(Shown about 45 minutes before Sunrise for mid-Northern latitudes.)

A Waxing Crescent Moon will appear to pass by the planets Mars, Jupiter and Saturn over the evenings of March 7th-10th.  The Moon, Jupiter and Saturn will form a beautiful triangle on the evening of March 9th.
(Shown about an hour after Sunset 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.