How to Find the Planets in the Night Sky 

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It never fails to amaze me how people discover these planets hundreds of years ago with the instruments they had.

You cannot imagine my delight when I saw this was 24 mins. We are BLESSED with your amazing content

Ah, the planets. One has to commend our ancient ancestors who could look up at the sky and not just notice objects, but see patterns and motions, and eventually be able to predict reappearance.

Thank you for setting the record straight on the proper pronunciation of URANUS👍👍

Thank you so much for all your hard work! I am new to Astronomy and Astrophotgraphy,and have never been so engrossed in a hobby in my life,until now. I am completely absorbed in it and think of little else.It really has changed my life,thanks once again. I use to have depression, but now things and I are looking up.

We call it Buddh (mercury) Shukra(Venus) Mangal(Mars) Brahaspati(Jupiter) Shani(Saturn) Nowadays Venus, Mars and mercury together are clearly visible in the mornings

I used to watch a manga reviewer called tekking101 the name Uranus came up in a series and he started saying it like the "ura-nos!" And always emphasized it by saying it dramatically. Became my favorite way to refer to that planet!

I just want to say thank you! I was a huge astronomy nerd back in elementary school and now have a niece that’s taking a liking to space stuff. Gotta brush up a little!

At 5 AM i found venus , mars and saturn in the sky. Visibility: excellent

Hello Janine. It is nice to hear you again. The Solar System is wonderful and I always see the sky at nigth. From where I live (Santiago, Chile), I can see Mars and Jupiter (I love it). Thank you for your video -:)

Mercury: You'll need to pick a time when it's furthest from the sun as usually it's caught in the glare and wait for the appropriate sunset or sunrise (it alternates between the two). 10% of clear nights / mornings you might see it. With binoculars you might push it to 30% or 50% if you're really good. Venus: Very bright, easily spotted, alternates between sunset and sunrise. In a telescope it looks like a mini-version of the moon becasue it looks white and cresecent shaped. The phases and apparent size and brightness change a lot. When it's a thin crescent, you can spot its shape with just binoculars. Most of the time you'll need a scope. Mars: Often much smaller-looking and dimmer than Jupiter, but every 2 years it's opposition time and then it will outshine Jupiter. You'll see detail around opposition through a scope, otherwise, a small red disk. Jupiter: The King of the night skies, it looks bright and you might even notice it looks bigger than a star with your naked eye. Through binoculars you can see 4 little moons close by (although sometimes only 2 or 3 are visible since the hide behind or in front of jupiter sometimes). With a scope you will be amazed at the detail you can see. Banding, colouration, swirling clouds, the Great Red Spot and the dancing moons. Simply breathtaking. Saturn: If you thought Jupiter was beautiful through a scope, prepare to be even more amazed by the Queen of the night sky (no way is Saturn male). The yellow colour, bands of cloud and most of all, the rings are quite beautiful. With a good scope and conditions you'll see a dark gap in the middle of the rings, called Cassini's Division. With binoculars you'll probably only see a yellowish star although you might just be able to make out a difference in its shape (it looks like an egg or that it has "ears" due to its rings). Uranus: I have never seen it with my own eyes, but it is visible through binoculars or a finder scope, where it looks like a bluish star. In a big scope you will see it as a disk, but I have never seen any details or shifting clouds on it. Neptune: I have never seen it even with binoculars, but the skies were I live are big city skies, with lots of light pollution- you may have more luck. Being invisible in the finder scope from the city, it is necessary to use a telescope and star-hop with a wide-field eyepiece. With a big scope and a high-powered eyepiece it looks like a dark blue dot, but it is still faint. I couldn't ever make out its dark spot, although some claim that they have. Wonderful to see such a cold and mysterious world so far away with your own eyes!

I love your videos! I've been able to identify objects in the sky so much more easily! Thank you!

4:46 now I feel proud that I got countless pictures of it together with Saturn, Venus and Mars.

Just one correction about Mars: Gravity doesn't affect how much atmosphere a planet can have, Titan, a moon of Saturn, has an atmosphere heavier than Earth's, almost double the pressure. The reason Mars hasn't got much of an atmosphere is because it's magnetic field was lost millions/billions of years ago when it's liquid core cooled down, letting the solar winds sweep Mars' atmosphere clean off

Amazing video 😍😍😍. I was waiting eagerly for this video.

Fantastic explanation I searched a lot on RU-vid about this topic but finally today I am there

First of all your voice is so very calming. I enjoy listening to it. As a seasoned amateur astronomer I still found some of your information new to me. I plan on listening to your other videos as well and think these are a great learning tool for those new to the science. Thank you so much.

Great Job! and thank you for the proper pronunciation of Uranus . Please keep your videos coming!

I hope that this great channel of yours will get bigger.. Awesome content!!!

Thank you very much for the education. Learned a lot today. 👍

Beautifull videos full of information ! Thank you 🙏

i have never looked up the sky but from today i will be busy watching the stars

Magnificent. So very well done. Thank you.

Loved the video. Thank you so much. I know it is easy to say thank you, but I know you are putting your complete life in these things and we people are watching a video of 25 minutes. I know it takes a lot of efforts . thanks from my depth of my heart.

13:54: Jupiter was actually named after the Roman Lord of Time. In the Southern U.K, I can see Jupiter, Venus and sometimes Mars all year round.

"No other object has been misidentified as a flying saucer more often than the planet Venus." I can see why. When it's low on the horizon, it can appear to move, change shape and color. All kinds of crazy stuff!

Thanks so much for the video with detailed explanation.

I’ve just discovered your channel and am hooked like the tail of Scorpius! I’ve loved astronomy since opening my World Book encyclopedia as a child. Thank you so much for the wonderful pics, great content, & most of all - adoration of all things celestial! ⭐️💫

Very useful to beginning astronomy lovers

Happy new year Janine🥰🥰. Glad to see your videos again. Thanks for this one-as usual packed with great and extremely useful info for star gazing. One question i was hoping you would answer- is it the planets or the stars that twinkle? I have seen vids that say opposite things about this. Thanks again and have a wonderful year.

You are a great teacher! I just found your channel and I am binge watching. You explain the sky so well. Thank you.

200 years ago and beyond-- there was 0 light pollution-- or pollution. That is how they -- the Roman's and any one else could see --- even Neptune on a clear sky

lovely presentation!!!

thank you so much, just what I am looking for now

This was a great video, thank you for making this. I will enjoy showing my son. This one video made me subscribe, cheers!

I learn something new with every video you upload. I was cosmically lost before your channel. 👍

Amazing video! Many thanks!

Well explained liked it alot😊

I loved the video Very well narrated

Good job love looking at the Planets nice video

Eaily-understandable explanation! Thank you :)

Love your videos, I work outside in the early morning and used this video to identify Venus. It's even more beautiful than the pictures. Very helpful, thank you

Such an amazing and informative video

Thank you very much I love this video a lot

I use your videos to trick people into thinking I'm smart during late night walks.

Good video subscribed 👍

I fantasize daily about what it would be like to go thousands of years into history and teach people these things.

With the aid of my telescope, patience, and several websites, I have been able to see every planet in my telescope from my driveway. Mercury was the last one I saw. It wasn't hard to identify, but the window of availability to see it was incredibly limited.

Ваше видео је одличан ! Хвала на информацији . Поздрав из Србије .

Janine. Thank you for this comprehensive, and very well done presentation, absolute fine job here. I took two semesters of ‘astrophysics’ in school as a college undergrad. And I loved the true pronunciation of planet ‘Uranus’,,,,,,,,,😊

I saw Venus this morning it was so cool

Ha! We understand why Pluto was demoted, but to my kids and I, Pluto is still the 9th Planet. Little planet with a heart on it's stomach will always be a planet to me. :) But yes, we do understand. This is a great video! I've seen them all (through Saturn, anyway) at various times of the year, and I'm sharing this vid with other friends who are interested in searching out the planets. Thank you for posting!

Missed You . . . Welcome Back

Color of planets depend on reflection of planets surface and position of sun

Thanks soo much❤ Be blessed

Happy New Year Jeanine

thank you a great vid

This woman is an excellent narrator. Thank you for all the information. ❤

Thank you I love listening to you

So awesome video love it 💖💖💖👍👍👍👌❤️🌕🌍🌍🌗

Thank you ma'am you teach me about the planets!

New subscriber here: I love your channel. Lately I've been enjoying observing Jupiter, Mars and Saturn with the naked eye. What do you recommend in a powerful telescope (or binoculars) that's not too expensive?

Informative 😊👍🏻

Thank You

I saw a video entitled "something strange just came out of Uranus" reading the comments I haven't laughed that hard in many years. I laughed so hard I was crying and my sides hurt. I went back and looked it up and I had it wrong. It actually said "something huge just came out of Uranus".

You're very easy to listen to. That was great.

Really excellent

Thanks

I find Mercury and Uranus the most challenging naked eye for different reasons, Mercury 's bright but there's generally a lot of sunlight and with Uranus due to it's faintness.With Uranus you have to be in a pretty dark area too and identify it with binoculars then look at the spot naked eye.I've seen Mercury many times but generally using binoculars or a monocular but I have caught it naked eye and it's not easy.

Thanks!

Nice summary of what amateur planetary astronomers can expect to see. I dabbled for a year or two when I lived in south Florida in the early 90's with an entry level refracting scope. I had much the same experiences you describe. I did score at least 2-3 good Mercury finds, but it moves very quickly and you have really a window of minutes only to get your eye on it before a cloud usually takes it. And I did after much frustration and repeated attempts over some months finally got Uranus in my sights, but because of city light pollution and the rotation of the Earth it is also exceedingly difficult to track with a basic cheapy telescope. With my very limited resolution it was no more than a bluish blur. And I never even attempted Neptune. Seemed pointless. You would need the electronically assisted large mirror jobs to even find it and keep a good stable view of it.

awsome!

Thank you ❤❤❤

love it

U remind me of the way my older sister Shirley talks. Its pleasant and😊 informative. I am an educator so I must speak 8with a structured overtone. .😊

I love your videos🥰🥰

Yes yes thank you

Yeah... but lately Jupiter has been the brightest at the night sky..

Easiest way is to just download an app & let ur phone do it for u.

Imagine they had actual photos of these planets instead of computer generated images. Planets are all actually stars.

Happy New Year!! I was surprised you didn't start with the ecliptic plane as orientation.

Finally a video that didn’t leave out Pluto

Love to watch you

I love you so much mam.. I have no words... from India...

I saw Mercury this very month early after sunset with my 114mm telescope just 4 arc degrees under Venus. I saw it at 100x and it wasn't much more than a large dot. Venus on the other hand was in one of its phases and looked wonderful. My son said he didn't know Venus had phases like the Moon, was a Moonless night. I looked at Jupiter at 60x and it showed up very well, but my son was mesmerized by Saturn at 100x in my scope. I do not exceed 100x as in my scope things just get blurry. 235x capacity is nonsense. Southern New Mexico just outside the Las Cruces city light dome. I do most of my stargazing at my son's house, but if someone wants to go with me we'll go 30 miles west where the Milky Way casts shadows.

Magnificent video, Janine, as always. Although I do see the different appearance of Mars from the other planets, I don’t see any actual red in the appearance of Mars. The tint is definitely different, I just don’t see the redness. Maybe I’m color blind. Thank you, Janine.

I find this topic fascinating and appreciate all who devote their time to teach. I hv a question: why do we call these masses in the sky planets, where did that word come from? And What were their original names before the romans/greeks adopted them to fit their mithos?? Ty

Great, this is wonderful and really amazing, but I wonder if you would tell me why Venus does not move across the sky just as Jupitar and others do, please. Thank U very much.

You are why earth is special.

Thank you so much. Your educational videos are the best on RU-vid. Superb explanations. I feel as if I'm attending a lecture on astronomy in college 🪐

Temperature of planets depend upon the surface and rotation of planets not distance

Thanks for the vid! Hope all have a blessed year 😊 John 3:16-21

Very clearly explained 👍♥️👍♥️👍.I can confidently mention this is very simple and very very useful video 👌👌. If you have a picture of jupiter together with venues please up load.

The narrator should start it by explaining everybody.That this is a two dimensional model of the universe

I've been looking at the IAU's star charts and although there is a legend for some of the symbols I cannot find a legend for all of the symbols I see on the charts. I was thinking maybe you could do a video on what those symbols mean?

I see it at night ok by thanks for teaching me

amazing... to be continued ----Crissy

Living in LA, I feel like I’ve seen Uranus before. There was a blue star in the sky and I was like that has to be Uranus or Neptune. But since you said it’s impossible to see Neptune without magnification I ruled out Neptune.

cool