Make sure to look up at the evening sky this weekend. Otherwise, you might miss a special planetary alignment that won't be seen again anytime soon.
Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn will form a planetary trio that will be visible through Monday evening. Like other trios, this triangular cluster of planets has come together for just a few days to form a rapidly changing and beautiful sight, said Amy Oliver, a spokeswoman for the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Many things are taking place:
In rare sky show, Jupiter and Saturn will nearly 'touch' on the winter solstice
Jupiter and Saturn shine on a clear July night over a lavender field near the village of Brihuega, Spain. In December 2020, the two planets will appear the closest as seen from Earth since 1623.
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Stargazers are in for a rare treat in the days just head of Christmas, as two of the solar system's brightest planets, Jupiter and Saturn, engage in a celestial dance that will bring them within planetary kissing distance in the evening sky.
The moment of closest approach arrives on December 21—the winter solstice for those in the Northern Hemisphere and the start of summer for those in the Southern Hemisphere. The two planets will appear closer together than at any time in almost 400 years in an event known as a great conjunction.
Exoplanet Found by Hubble Resembles Reputed "Planet Nine" in Our Solar System
Astronomers confirm bound orbit for planet far from its star, showing that far-flung planets exist.
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The big question, until now, has been whether the planet, called HD 106906 b, is in an orbit perpetually bound to the binary star — which is a mere 15 million years old compared to the 4.5 billion-year age of our sun — or whether it’s on its way out of the planetary system, never to return.
In a paper published in December 2020 in The Astronomical Journal , astronomers finally answer that question. By precisely tracking the planet’s position over 14 years, they determined that it is likely bound to the star in a 15,000-year, highly eccentric orbit, making it a distant cousin of Planet Nine.
News | NASA Extends Exploration for Two Planetary Science Missions
As NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the Moon and on to Mars, the agency's quest to seek answers about our solar system and beyond continues to inform those efforts and generate new discoveries. The agency has extended the missions of two spacecraft, following an external review of their scientific productivity.
The missions - Juno and InSight - have each increased our understanding of our solar system, as well as spurred new sets of diverse questions.
Quite a lot has been going on:
Metro Detroit weather: Fair skies as 3 planets align Saturday evening
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After highs in the low 40s and sunshine all day, skies will be fair Saturday evening. An amazing three-planet conjunction has a good chance of being visible as it becomes chillier at night. It becomes colder throughout the night Saturday. Sunday will have a few more clouds but will remain dry.
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The Jupiter-Saturn conjunction Saturday will be joined by our solar system's smallest planet, Mercury. The trio of planets will be visible in the south-southwest sky at dinner time.
Possibility of seeing three planets this weekend in Oklahoma sky
You might be able to see Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury if you look up at the Oklahoma sky this weekend.
KOCO 5 Meteorologist Eric Garlick looks at what you can expect to see in the night sky this weekend and the next few days. Watch the video player above for Eric's report.
Astronomers Find a Beautiful 6-Planet System in Almost Perfect Orbital Harmony
By now, we have discovered hundreds of stars with multiple planets orbiting them scattered throughout the galaxy. Each one is unique, but a system orbiting the star HD 158259, 88 light-years away, is truly special.
The star itself is about the same mass and a little larger than the Sun - a minority in our exoplanet hunts. It's orbited by six planets: a super-Earth and five mini-Neptunes.
After monitoring it for seven years, astronomers have discovered that all six of those planets are orbiting HD 158259 in almost perfect orbital resonance. This discovery could help us to better understand the mechanisms of planetary system formation, and how they end up in the configurations we see.
Rogue planets wander the galaxy all alone | Science News for Students
Not all planets orbit stars. Some zip through our galaxy all on their own. And now astronomers have found the smallest of these rogue planets yet.
The newly discovered wandering world has roughly the mass of Earth. With no sun in its sky, it's always nighttime on this lonely planet. And that sky is a lot darker and filled with more stars than can be seen from any place on Earth.
"The sky must be marvelous," says Przemek Mróz. He is an astronomer at Caltech in Pasadena, Calif. He led the team that discovered the planet . But the lack of a sun does come at a cost, he says. "It must be freezing cold, too."
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