How many of you have seen another planet when looking up at the sky?

[Marcos]

Without a telescope etc. I never have , but then again i've never really tried.

How would i go about doing so? I'm guessing the first step is to head out of the city and into an area of less light pollution

[skuzgib]

I have, loads of times. I imagine you have to do it at a certain time of year though.

[shelley bda]

Jupiter should be quite visible in winter months

And you probably don't need to be told but take a good map of the constellation so you can identify what your looking at

Planets don't shimmer like stars, they stay a solid gold colour

[shelley bda]

I live in the country so can see more well.

My mates nan was supposedly abducted by aliens down the road from me, and wrote a book about it. I think she found our stash

Hehe like a bloke we know... he'd tell us he'd been abducted numerous times... and i'd they'd implanted him 'an all apparently

[Marcos]

Jupiter should be quite visible in winter months

And you probably don't need to be told but take a good map of the constellation so you can identify what your looking at

Planets don't shimmer like stars, they stay a solid gold colour

Will they be quite obvious to spot?

[Flibb]

Have seen a few planets, both unaided and through a telescope (Meade etx-105), have sorted out a camera for it now so will try and get some pics when the weather is right. If you want to see whats up when try using starcalc

http://www.relex.ru/~zalex/main.htm

its very compact (runs on my old p166 laptop), easy to use once you get your head around it, and you can print a chart for any time and loaction. You have probably seen planets bud didnt realise what they were.

[vincent]

i've seen Jupiter on a clear sky night

also seen a shooting star while i was mashed LOL

[shelley bda]

Will they be quite obvious to spot?

Oh yes, I think Jupiter is one of the easiest planets to identify, if it's a clear night you may even spot Mars, like i say take a good map of the constellation so you can identify what stars and planets your looking at, when i first started stargazing i'd use Orions belt as a starting point then identify what was around it



You may even see some sattelites floating about

[Marcos]

Have seen a few planets, both unaided and through a telescope (Meade etx-105), have sorted out a camera for it now so will try and get some pics when the weather is right. If you want to see whats up when try using starcalc

http://www.relex.ru/~zalex/main.htm

its very compact (runs on my old p166 laptop), easy to use once you get your head around it, and you can print a chart for any time and loaction. You have probably seen planets bud didnt realise what they were.

That program looks pretty complex

Do i stand a chance of spotting a planet without it?

[shelley bda]

i've seen Jupiter on a clear sky night

also seen a shooting star while i was mashed LOL

Iv'e only ever seen a couple of shooting stars... amazing 'an all they were

Watch out for the Leonids meteor shower mid November, can be quite awesome if you can be arsed to watch

[Rave]

I've seen Jupiter and Venus. You can see Jupiter's moons with a pair of binoculars, quite impressive.

[Howard]

I've been to Jupiter

[Marcos]

Oh yes, I think Jupiter is one of the easiest planets to identify, if it's a clear night you may even spot Mars, like i say take a good map of the constellation so you can identify what stars and planets your looking at, when i first started stargazing i'd use Orions belt as a starting point then identify what was around it



You may even see some sattelites floating about

I really had no idea this was possible , even sattelites, thats a surprise

[oralpain]

I've spotted Mars and Venus a few times, without intentionally looking for them.

[shelley bda]

Take a look Here
It's quite a useful site

[shelley bda]

I'd love to see the Northern Lights, must of been awesome

I missed the persieds dunno why, i normally look out around that time of year