VIDEO: Planets create cosmic triangle in morning sky this week
For those without telescopes, enjoy an amazing view of three planets with a typical set of backyard sky-watching binoculars.
GRAB a cup of coffee and make your way outside an hour before dawn this week to see a potentially incredible grouping of bright planets in the eastern sky.
Jupiter, Venus and Mars will be shifting close together, with the three bright planets forming a very close triangle in the sky.
Avid sky-watchers should be able to catch a good view of Jupiter and Venus, weather permitting.
Venus will be just a little more than one degree from Jupiter in the sky, meaning that the two bright planets will be incredibly close.
For those without telescopes, enjoy an amazing view of three planets with a typical set of backyard sky-watching binoculars.
Binoculars could also reveal four of Jupiter’s moons — Lo, Ganymede, Europa and Callisto, and the configuration of the moons will be different every morning.
Mars will be the dimmest of the three and tinted slightly red, but it will be relatively close to Venus and Jupiter.
The planets are actually millions of miles away from one another in the solar system, but these kinds of conjunctions happen every now and then when the planets align from our perspective here on Earth.
If you happen to miss the close conjunctions this week, you’ll have more opportunities to see more close alignments of these cosmic bodies and the crescent moon next month.
On Friday, 6 November Jupiter will be above Mars and Venus with the moon hovering near the giant planet.
The Leonid meteor shower also peaks in mid-November – a good way to get your stargazing fix for the month.
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