This week, Mercury is emerging from the glare of the sun and making a beeline for Venus. By week's end, the two planets will be just 3o apart, an eye-catching pair in the deep-blue twilight of sunset.
The best nights to look are April 3rd and 4th. Go outside at the end of the day and face west. Venus pops out of the twilight first, so bright it actually shines through thin clouds. Mercury follows, just below and to the right: April 3April 4
Venus is an old friend to most sky watchers; Mercury, less so. The first planet from the sun spends most of its time wrapped in painful sunlight. Seeing it so easily, and in the beautiful company of Venus no less, is a rare treat indeed. The next apparition this good won't come until Nov. 2011.
By that time, however, we'll have much better view of Mercury all the time.
NASA's MESSENGER probe is en route to Mercury now, and in March of 2011 it will become the first spacecraft to orbit the planet. During a year-long science mission, MESSENGER will beam back a stream of high-resolution pictures and data obtained using seven instruments designed to operate in the extreme environment near the Sun. This kind of coverage of planet #1 is unprecedented.
Jack Logan on 29 Jan 10700-year-old house in Iran - Aasemoon, you must already know about this!
fishead ...*∞º˙ on 30 Jan 10Neat-o. They sure knew how to build back then. One of the girls I went to grad school with was from Italy. Her family has lived in the same house for over 500 years. The have added on over the centuries, but the main part of the house is still in full use. The coolest thing was when she brought back pictures--there's a step up leading into the kitchen area. The threshold is a hand carved wooden beam. So many people have stepped on this wooden stair so many times over the years, that there is this huge rounded depression worn down into the stair. My house is 10 years old, and I'm constantly having to fix something. I can't imagine the amount of upkeep has been necessary to keep these old places livable.
