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EYES TO THE SKY: Planets through the night — a picture guide

Mars and Saturn are at their brightest and visible from nightfall until before dawn. On May 30, Mars orbits closest to Earth.
May 30 – June 12, 2016

Mt. Washington — Stepping out to stargaze on a late spring night is as much about the delight of finding our place in our celestial neighborhood as experiencing the rush of surprise encounters out there in the dark as life on Earth celebrates renewal. The pace has picked up. We look up and are stunned by the appearance of a fully leafed-out, luxuriant sugar maple. We breathe flower-scented air and listen – frogs are singing. And, yes, that blinking light is the first firefly making starlight close to the ground.

Mars and Saturn are at their brightest and visible from nightfall until before dawn. On May 30, Mars orbits closest to Earth. Then, at 3 a.m. on June 3, Saturn arrives at opposition to the sun, with planet Earth between the two. The sun shines directly on Saturn, making Saturn brightest in our skies around the time of its opposition, from the 1st to the 3rd. Mars and Jupiter have already peaked and are very gradually losing brilliance, as will Saturn after the 3rd.

Be drawn into this eventful period in our planet’s relationship to the others in our solar system. Contemplate the events through observation and the diagrams that follow:

 

Artist’s illustration of the orbits of Earth and Mars, via NASA.
Artist’s illustration of the orbits of Earth and Mars, on May 30, via NASA.

 

Not to scale. An opposition takes place when Earth goes between Saturn and the sun. June 2 - 3 Via theakumalian.com
Not to scale. An opposition takes place when Earth goes between Saturn and the sun. June 2 – 3
Via theakumalian.com

 

Mars makes a prominent triangle with 2 other objects – the planet Saturn and star Antares in Scorpius – in 2016. Watch for them in the east each evening, south at your local midnight (or north if you are in the S. Hemisphere) and in the west before dawn. Courtesy EarthSky.org
Mars makes a prominent triangle with 2 other objects – the planet Saturn and star Antares in Scorpius – in 2016. Watch for them in the east each evening, south at your local midnight (or north if you are in the S. Hemisphere) and in the west before dawn. Courtesy EarthSky.org

 

Largest to smallest are pictured left to right, top to bottom: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury.
Largest to smallest are pictured left to right, top to bottom: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury.

 

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NATURE’S TURN: Turning the corner to spring — a Valentine for Earth

“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic communi-ty.” — Aldo Leopold

NATURE’S TURN: Dynamic winter designs in snow, treetops

The first porcupine in a string of winter squatters and the first to enter right beside the doorstep to my home, this entitled individual even tread onto and then sidled sideways off the edge of the lowest steppingstone to my front door to reach the crawlspace.

EYES TO THE SKY: Shortest day, longest night of the year. Four-planet evenings.

The shortest days, longest nights of the year continue from this first day of winter in the northern hemisphere. Only seconds are gained until the end of December.

The Edge Is Free To Read.

But Not To Produce.