Take in the night air and the Venus, Jupiter, Mercury triple conjunction - New Haven Register

By Kathleen Kudlinski, kathkud@aol.com Kathleen Kudlinski illustration Let's make a date, shall we? Next Sunday, May 26, we'll stand on a hilltop, a dock, a beach or a rooftop. We'll watch the sunset together, listening to the evening chorus of birds fade as the sky shifts to a deep endless blue. There! In the West, near where the sun set, a beautiful star appears. Only this is not a star. It doesn't twinkle, but glows steadily ever brighter as the sky darkens. This is Venus, the cautionary tale in our solar system. The planet is almost a twin of ours in size. It shines so brightly because its entire surface is covered in a thick layer of clouds. Sunlight hitting the white atmosphere bounces off almost intact reflecting back into our eyes. Any bit of sunshine and heat that shines down through the poor planet's clouds is trapped. Eons of runaway greenhouse effect have raised the surface temperature to 890 degrees, hot enough to melt lead. Venus' surface is actually hotter than Mercury's, although it is nearly twice as far from the sun. Any water Venus may have had boiled away long ago. Those clouds? They are sulfuric acid vapor. The atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide. But she sure looks pretty, doesn't she? Since Venus is closer to the sun than we are, we see it as the "morning star" or the "evening star." The ancients thought it was two separate stars — and outstandingly beautiful. That's why she was later named after the goddess of beauty and love. Oh, but look. Just above Venus and to the left, another glowing planet has appeared. That is Jupiter, the second-brightest planet. It, too, has a secret: There is no there, there. The whole gigantic orb, 11 times the diameter of Earth, is nothing but gases. This ball of colorful clouds is full of wild weather and centuries-long storms. The great red spot, one of these perfect storms, is finally blowing itself out as we watch. And just above that planetary pair, you can now see a third: Mercury, the smallest planet, is the closest to the sun. That's why we seldom see it. Mercury's dim little orb is often lost in the sunset glow of the Western sky or early dawn's light in the East. Next Sunday, however, a triple conjunction of planets occurs. This magical sight won't happen again until October 2015. So why am I telling you about it a week in advance? Tonight, if you look out 30-60 minutes after sunset, you'll see all three, but not so close together. Tomorrow, they'll be closer still. By Thursday, all three will fit into your view through a pair of binoculars. The super show goes on until the first few days of June. Watch the planets wander toward their rendezvous all week, just in case the sky turns cloudy next Sunday. But the show isn't over, even then. Jupiter and Venus appear at their closest in our sky on May 28, hugging the horizon after the sun slips away. It's worth missing a favorite TV show or wrestling your kids away from their computer games. Stick around after your child's late sports practice. Make a date with someone you really want to impress. This solar system spectacular is the greatest show from Earth. Continued... via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEPX5elZhFZ2XJDGw30t4eUk5076A&url=http://nhregister.com/articles/2013/05/17/life/doc5196980b6dca1692972209.txt

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