"Four Planets Visible and One About to Emerge, plus; The Moon Rides Across the Sky with Mars Again"

Scheduled air date: 2003 Sep 29-Oct 05

Within the next few weeks, our neighboring planet Venus will emerge from the glare of the Sun as the "evening star."
(Shown about 30 minutes after sunset a couple of weeks from now for mid-Northern latitudes.)

Although more than a month has passed since Mars—our other neighboring planet—was at its closest to us, it is still very bright and visible most of the night.  On the evenings of October 5th and 6th, Mars appears to be visited by the Waxing Gibbous Moon.
(Shown about an hour after sunset for mid-Northern latitudes.)

In the pre-dawn skies, three planets—Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury—may be seen.  Within the next couple of weeks, Mercury will become hidden by the glare of the Sun.
(Shown 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.