(16 September 2012) Haven’t seen a planet in the sky? Don’t know that you can see a planet without a telescope? Five planets including Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter are easily visible to the unaided eye if you know where and when to look. The trick of course is knowing which star isn’t a star and is really a planet. An ideal time is when the Moon is located near a planet. You can’t mistake the Moon for anything else (!) and just need to know where the planet concerned is in relation to the Moon in the sky.
On Tuesday 18 September 2012 look above the Western horizon to find Saturn above and to the right of the slim crescent Moon. The bright star below the crescent Moon is Spica – the brightest star in the ancient Greek Constellation Virgo The Virgin.
On Wednesday 19 September, the Moon will have moved further above the horizon for the same time and will now be located below the planet Mars.
Finally, for Year 3, 5 and 7 teachers reading this post (and who are using the Australian Curriculum: Science), don’t forget to send your students outside to look not only at the planets Mars and Saturn but also the changing appearance and location of the Moon as it moves in it’s orbit around the Earth.