Three Planets Racing this Weekend

William Robinson writes "This report asks you to keep your eyes on the skies this weekend, when a rare triple-planetary alignment is going to happen. It promises a stellar show for star-gazers. Scott Young of the Manitoba Museum Planetarium says the planets in question -- Mercury, Venus and Saturn -- are all big enough to be seen without a telescope."

Planet spotting

[tolkienfan]

Mercury is actually quite hard to see because it's close to the sun - you can only catch it at certain times of the year and only ever close to dawn and dusk.

Venus is similar - but less so.

Saturn is often in the sky, and is a beautiful sight through a telescope.

I can't wait to see them all so close together - Let's hope for clear skies!

I'm going to buy a telescope!

[CyricZ]

This event has convinced me to buy a telescope! I must see this first hand. What sort of telescope would be ideal for an amateur astronomer such as myself to view such a planetary event?

Light pollution

[sckeener]

Considering I live in Houston, I doubt I'll be seeing anything. Light pollution is atrocious. When I want to see the night sky, I have to go camping.

Horizons and light pollution

[jfengel]

At least camping is an option. I live on the East Coast, and real darkness is many hours away. And even then the horizons are usually obscured by trees. But even I can see the conjunction.

I'm sure the light pollution is pretty bad in Houston, but Saturn and Venus are easily visible even against that, and given those indicators it's not hard to find Mercury. You may have to go to the 'burbs rather than in the city proper, but I bet you could find it on top of a large building. The planets are pretty bright, and the problem in a city is more about horizon than light pollution.