An Evening Sky Full of Planets
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Dario Giannobile
Only Mercury is missing from a
Solar System
parade of planets in this
early evening skyscape.
Rising nearly opposite the Sun, bright Mars is at the far left.
The other naked-eye planets Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus,
can also be spotted, with the
the position of too-faint Uranus and Neptune marked
near the arcing trace of the
ecliptic plane.
On the far right and
close to the western horizon after sunset is a young crescent
Moon whose surface is partly illuminated by earthshine.
In the foreground of the composite panorama captured on 2 January, planet
Earth is represented by Mount Etna's lower
Silvestri Crater.
Of course Earth's
early evening skies are
full of planets for the entire
month of January.
On 13 January,
a nearly Full Moon will appear to pass in front of Mars
for skywatchers in the continental U.S. and Eastern
Canada.