All planets in our solar system will be visible around sunrise or sunset this week. A rare occurrence and a natural coincidence of the planetary orbits.
It's not uncommon to see some of the planets in the night sky, but this week we have the rare opportunity to see all of the planets in our solar system on the same day. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
All of these planets will not be above the horizon at the same time, so you can't view them all in one seating. But, if you head outside at dawn and after sunset, you'll be able to see all of the same day, this week.
While you're here, how about this:
Microbes may be our miners on asteroids, moons and other planets | CBC Radio
Microbes could be put to use in future human space settlements extracting metals and rare elements from rocks, according to a researcher who designed the world's first mining experiment in space.
"You can think of microbes as miniature miners, if you like, going into rocks and getting all that good stuff that we need to build a civilization," said Professor Charles Cockell , an astrobiologist from the University of Edinburgh.
If humans are ever going to settle in space or on other planets, they'll likely need to find ways to efficiently find and harvest resources in alien environments. Mining will be a key technology in that effort.
Moon, planets putting on a show in the night sky
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ORLANDO, Fla. – Jupiter and Saturn have been prominent fixtures in the evening sky over the past few months, but Wednesday, the waxing crescent moon joined in on the socially distant party.
The moon will remain in close proximity to the two bright dots through Nov. 21. Look for the three in the southern sky as night falls. Clouds may get in the way from time to time Thursday.
Jupiter and Saturn and will also continue to get closer and closer together in the night sky until the winter solstice on Dec. 21. The last time the two gas giants were that close was back in the 1600s.
Something Good: Good Luck To The Mars Planets – News, Sports, Weather, Traffic and the Best
This may worth something:
Jupiter and Saturn will soon resemble 'double planet' – How to see celestial treat?
In the run-up to Christmas, eagle-eyed stargazers are in for a treat. Just after the Sun sets on the evening of Monday, December 21, gas giant Jupiter and ‘ringed jewel’ Saturn will appear incredibly close. The planetary pair will in fact be nearer to each other than at any other point since the Middle Ages.
This remarkable event offers both photography enthusiasts and amateur astronomers a wonderful way to ring in the winter solstice.
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Professor Patrick Hartigan, a Rice University astronomer, said in a statement: “Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so.
There Might Be Water On All Rocky Planets - Universe Today
If you asked someone who was reasonably scientifically literate how Earth got its water, they’d likely tell you it came from asteroids—or maybe comets and planetesimals, too—that crashed into our planet in its early days. There’s detail, nuance, and uncertainty around that idea, but it’s widely believed to be the most likely reason that Earth has so much water.
But a new explanation for Earth’s water is emerging. It says that the water comes along for the ride when Earth formed out of the solar nebula.
Why Do the Planets All Orbit the Sun in the Same Plane?
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Q: Why do the planets all orbit the Sun in the same plane?
—Randi Eldevik | Stillwater, Oklahoma
Because of the way the Sun formed, explains David DeVorkin, a senior curator in the space history division at the Air and Space Museum. About 4.5 billion years ago, a massive cloud of dust started contracting as gravity pulled its parts toward the center.
Q: Do male mammals lactate?
—J.T. Smith | Sway, England
Generally no, even though most male mammals have nipples, explains Michael Power, animal scientist at the National Zoo. In a mammalian embryo, nipples tend to form before the sex is determined, and since nipples serve little or no function in males, the process of evolution has not been under pressure to eliminate the vestigial feature over time.
Hear Mars rover Perseverance whir as it cruises toward the Red Planet | Space
A microphone aboard the Mars 2020 rover Perseverance , which launched on July 30 and will touch down on Feb. 18, 2021, captured the whirring sound made by the car-sized robot's "heat-rejection fluid pump," a newly released NASA audio file reveals.
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"With apologies to the person who came up with the slogan for 'Alien,' I guess you could say that in space no one may be able to hear you scream, but they can hear your heat-rejection fluid pump," Dave Gruel, the lead engineer for Mars 2020's EDL camera and microphone subsystem, said in a statement on Wednesday (Nov. 18).
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