Party in the skies

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute says there’s going to be a fun party in the skies on Dec. 10. Check it:

Weather permitting, just before sunrise on Sunday, Dec. 10, observers will be able to spot three naked-eye planets very close together low in the east.

To understand what is happening we need to go back a couple of months. On Oct. 23 the red planet Mars was directly behind the Sun as viewed from the Earth. Astronomers call this a conjunction. On Nov. 21 the giant planet Jupiter was in conjunction as well. … All the while the Earth has moved around the Sun to a point where we can now see these two planets low in the east before sunrise.

In the meantime, the planet Mercury, the swiftest of them all, has swooped into the morning skies and is also low in the east before sunrise. On the morning of Dec. 10 all three of these planets will be close together – in an area of the sky about twice the size of the full moon.

So, take a pair of binoculars and go out about 45 minutes before sunrise Look low in the sky just a bit south of east. Jupiter will be the brightest of this trio. Mars will show a slight reddish-brown tinge and will be to the right of Jupiter. Mercury will be above these two. And just coincidentally the bright star beta Scorpius will be above this grouping. This star is the uppermost in the claw of the scorpion.

This is the closest grouping of three planets that are visible with the naked eye for the next 40 years!