Venus and Jupiter have been so prominent in the evening twilight for so long above the West (Venus) and North West (Jupiter) horizon, it is easy to forget they are there!
My favourite is Jupiter. Unlike Venus which has nothing to look at apart from it’s changing phases through a small telescope, Jupiter will reward you with occassional glimpses of its ‘Great Red Spot’ and the constantly changing location of it’s four giant moons. In fact, even a decent pair of binoculars (if held steady) will allow you to view some of its moons. If you want to find out when the Great Red Spot is visible from your location, go here. Information on which of Jupiter’s moons is currently visible by going here.
A final reason to look at Jupiter and Venus tonight is to remember where they are relative to each other tonight. That might sound strange but (believe it or not) by mid-March 2012, the two planets will end up near each other above the Western horizon. You can do a mental comparison in mid-March, or better still use a camera with a wide angle lens to photograph them tonight and again in mid-March. You can download an old fashioned flip book showing the close encounter from here on my website. Look for the Venus and Jupiter Conjunction Flip Book (10 – 20 March 2012) heading.
As an aside, Uranus’s position is shown on the chart. If you are going to look for (faint and tiny) Uranus, you will need to wait till the sky is darker and you will need a decent finder chart. Even in a reasonable amateur telescope, Uranus only looks like a faint star (abet one with a tiny blue-green disc).
