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Four Planets Will Be Visible In Close Cluster This Week (VIDEO)
You don't have to be an astronomer to enjoy a rare sight like this.
You just have to be able to get out of bed.
A rare sight of four planets "clustering" together in the early morning sky will occur this week, according to CNN. Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury will all be visible low in the eastern sky, just before dawn on May 9-12.
These planets are the brightest things in the sky after the moon, and this proximity is rare indeed.
While in reality they're millions of miles apart, on May 10 and 11 Venus and Jupiter will seem to come within inches of each other. Mars will appear a bit further off, lower left of the other three.
The best view of the formation, which will be visible to the naked eye, should be in the southern states, according to StarDate magazine, which is run by The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory. However, binoculars and telescopes always help, as increasing light makes the formation harder to see as dawn approaches.
The video below provides an illustration of the relative positions the planets should have throughout the week.
“Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury will all be visible low in the eastern sky, just before dawn on May 9-12.”
As I have written over and over, Mercury conjoins Venus in celestial longitude from May 7 to May 21st. On May 11th BOTH Mercury and Venus conjoin Jupiter in celestial longitude. On May 21st BOTH Mercury and Venus conjoin Mars in celestial longitude.
The clustering is NOT limited to 3 days in May. See THIS video for the whole month:
http://media.skyandtelescope.com/video/planet-animation-may2011.mov