More Planet Fun

 Here is what Saturn, Venus and Mars looked like this morning.  Mars and Venus are moving lower in the sky every morning, compared to Saturn and Jupiter.

Mars will pass very close to Saturn on the Morning of April 4 and 5.

And on Easter weekend, particularly on April 14-15, the  four planets will be equally spaced on a diagonal line.  From lower left to upper right, we'll see:  Jupiter, Venus, Mars and  Saturn.

It is really cool when, like now, the planets are obviously zooming around the sky, compared to the fixed stars.  In fact this type of action is what inspired the word Planet.

According to Merriam-Webster: The word Planet goes back to ancient Greek planēt- (literally, "wanderer"), which is derived from planasthai, a Greek verb which means "to wander." The word was originally applied to any of seven visible celestial bodies which appeared to move independently of the fixed stars—the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

 

Moon and Jupiter

 Whoo whoo!  The clouds cleared up at just the right time for me to see Jupiter to the left of a very skinny Moon.  Unlike Mars and Saturn, Jupiter is bright enough that it is easy to spot in the pre-dawn sky.

In this picture, Jupiter is about one quarter of the way in from the left edge of the frame, and about the same height as the Moon.

Moon and Planets Update

 There was some haze this morning but i could see Mars, Venus, Saturn and the Moon quite easily. On Wednesday morning, a super skinny Moon will be much lower in the sky, and just to the right of Jupiter. I'll take a look but I'm not expecting clear skies that near the horizon. I haven't spotted Jupiter yet, but the Moon will help me know where to look.

 

Moon and Planets on Monday the 28th

 The Moon, Mars, Venus and Saturn will be putting on a nice show for early birds on Monday morning. It was really cloudy here on Bonaire this morning but i got a quick sneak preview and snapped a test picture. Venus will be moving down towards Saturn on Sunday and then more on Monday. The Moon will be in the frame on Monday. I set the Stellarium software to Monday to preview the three planets and the Moon clumped together and then Jupiter way down by the horizon. (The moon will drop down to Jupiter on Wednesday morning)

 

Kibrahacha Trees

 The Kibrahacha trees on the hillsides East of Antriol are blooming like crazy. We did a quick loop out there after work this afternoon. I'll look to see if the trees up North are blooming if i am able to do a before work bike ride tomorrow morning.