Tonight's lineup: 1 moon, 5 planets

An unusual array of heavenly bodies that occurs only about once every 20 years can be seen tonight.

[Times photo: Jamie Francis] Venus appears as a bright speck to the right of the crescent moon Tuesday night. In the foreground is the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg.

By DAVID BALLINGRUD, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 16, 2002

On most days, the other planets seem very distant from our busy lives here on Earth.

But on some special nights, a simple upward glance can provide a stunning reminder that we all are clinging to a rock in space -- one of many rocks in our vast and still mysterious solar system.

Weather permitting, such a reminder might come tonight.

Step outside an hour or so after sunset and look to the west-northwest -- from the moon down, as close to the horizon as possible. If the skies are clear and the view is unobstructed, you will witness an unusual arrangement of moon and planets, one that occurs only about once every 20 years.

The moon has joined five planets in the western sky: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury and Saturn. At this time in the lunar cycle, the moon is "new" and therefore just a sliver, or crescent, though the whole outline is visible on a clear night.

To the moon's lower right will be Jupiter. Farther to the right and a bit lower will be brilliant Venus, the brightest of the five. Faint, reddish Mars will be nearby, a bit more to the right.

"If you are lucky, below that you can find Saturn," said Daryl L. Schrader, an astronomy and mathematics professor at St. Petersburg College. "And Mercury -- if you can catch it -- is lower still."

The moon moves across the sky from east to west, so its position relative to the planets will change as the evening progresses.

Saturn and Mercury will look like bright stars, Schrader said, and, by the end of the month, will fall out of view.

This kind of bunching up of the planets is rare but not unheard of. Astronomers have been recording the phenomenon for more than 3,500 years. Every couple of decades there is a period in which this kind of collection takes place, according to the editors of Sky & Telescope Magazine.

But the five-planet bunching is not always visible. The last time that happened was in February 1940. The next easily visible one will come in September 2040.

But Schrader has a point to make.

"Everyone says there are five naked-eye planets this month," said Schrader, who also teaches astronomy at the University of South Florida. "But that's not right. Really, there are six."

To find the sixth, he said, "look straight down."

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