I remember all too well while growing up that my father would – on what seemed like a regular basis – point out planets crossing the daytime sky. “That’s Venus“, he would say as he was pointing; or another time, “There’s Mercury” all-the-while explaining that their orbits around the Sun are smaller than ours. I was more amazed at the time that he was able to tell a planet from a star with his naked eye than the fact that we’d be looking at such things during daylight.

Conjunctions occur when two or more celestial bodies are visible near one another in the sky at the same time and soon five, yes FIVE, planets should be visible to us at the same time this February 17th. You can read about the particulars and times at:  http://www.earthsky.org/radioshows/52944/five-planets-visible-in-february-2009

Also of note is a more specific and much more rare conjunctive event when Venus transits in front of our visible path of the Sun in June 2012. More information on this occurrence can be found at: http://TransitOfVenus.org

Tags: Astronomy

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