Chance of a lifetime

[Guest guest]

Neither of us were here in 1925 and hardly any of us vocal ones will

be around in 2053.

 

Hence I post this email that was sent to me. PLEASE DO NOT TURN THIS

INTO A CHAIN LETTER!

 

*******************boq

 

Jupiter, Mercury and Mars appearing to nestle together in the predawn

skies.

DEC. 8, 2006

 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Stargazers will get a rare triple

planetary treat this weekend with Jupiter, Mercury and Mars appearing

to nestle together in the predawn skies.

About 45 minutes before dawn on Sunday those three planets will be

so close that the average person's thumb can obscure all three from view.

They will be almost as close together on Saturday and Monday, but

Sunday they will be within one degree of each other in the sky. Three

planets haven't been that close since 1925, said Miami Space Transit

Planetarium director Jack Horkheimer.

And it won't happen again until 2053, he said.

"Jupiter will be very bright and it will look like it has two

bright lights next to it, and they won't twinkle because they're

planets," said Horkheimer, host of the television show "Star Gazer.

"This is the kind of an event that turns young children into Carl Sagans."

The planets are actually hundreds of millions of miles apart, but

the way the planets orbit the sun make it appear they are neighbors in

the east-southeastern skies. They'll be visible in most parts of the

world -- in the Western Hemisphere, as far south as Buenos Aires and

as far north as Juneau, Alaska, Horkheimer said.

The experts differ on just how to look at the planets. Horkheimer

said naked-eye viewing is fine, but binoculars or a telescope are even

better.

But if you are going to use a telescope, be careful because the

planets are so close to where the sun will soon rise, if you linger

you might gaze at the sun through the telescope and damage your

eyesight, said Michelle Nichols, master educator at Chicago's Adler

Planetarium.

Ed Krupp, director of Los Angeles' Griffith Observatory, cautioned

it will be hard to see the event "with an unaided eye, particularly in

an area that is highly urbanized."

The way to find the planets, which will be low on the

east-southeast horizon, is to hold your arm straight out, with your

hand in a fist and the pinky at the bottom. Halfway up your fist is

how high the planets will appear above the horizon, Nichols said.

Jupiter will be white, Mercury pinkish and Mars butterscotch-colored.

"It is a lovely demonstration of the celestial ballet that goes on

around us, day after day, year after year, millennium after

millennium," said Horkheimer. "When I look at something like this, I

realize that all the powers on Earth, all the emperors, all the money,

cannot change it one iota. We are observers, but the wonderful part of

that is that we are the only species on this planet that can observe

it and understand it."

In ancient times, people thought the close groupings of planets had

deep meaning, said Krupp. Now, he said, "it's absolutely something fun

to look for."

 

********************************eoq