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Credit & Copyright: Ken Webb
Explanation:
Brilliant Venus falls out
of the evening sky as March ends,
but Jupiter and Saturn remain well up above the
western horizon.
Jupiter
blazes forth above and to the left of a slightly fainter
Saturn in this
telephoto picture taken on January 19th.
Near the top lies the lovely Pleiades
star cluster with suggestions of its characteristic blue
reflection nebulae.
These planets and the Pleiades have a similar, easily recognizable
orientation in the Spring night sky.
Also known as
M45,
the 45th object in French astronomer Charles
Messier's famous catalog, the Pleiades will likely soon be
checked off many stargazers' tally lists.
For northern hemisphere observers this weekend offers a
prime opportunity to complete a
Messier Marathon -- the
viewing of all 110 Messier
catalog
objects in one glorious
dusk to dawn observing run.
This weekend it will also be possible to complete an all-planet
marathon, observing all the
solar system's planets
in a single night.
And if you still need something to look at, the
International Space Station
could also be visible arcing through the skies depending on
your location, but Mir will
not.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Jupiter - Saturn - M 45 - Messier catalog
Publications with words: Jupiter - Saturn - M 45 - Messier catalog
See also: