Sky Guy Viewing ALERT! Mars, Saturn and Milky Way

Hey Space Placers!

No joy on the Mercury transit yesterday as I was totally clouded out. I did see portions of it online.

The record breaking consecutive days of rain in Washington D.C. and the surrounding cloud cover have frustrated me to no end. I do not have a SINGLE picture of Mars this season!!!!!!!!

A GORGEOUS picture appeared today in APOD which shows Mars, Saturn and the Milky Way in all their glory. Be sure to roll over the image to get the identification of what you are seeing and click on the pic to get a larger view.

Saturn and Mars visit Milky Way Star Clouds 
Image Credit & Copyright: Carlos Eduardo Fairbairn ; Rollover Annotation: Judy Schmidt

You cannot see all of this detail in the Milky Way or around Antares with your unaided eye BUT you can see Saturn, Mars, Antares and the dust clouds of the Milky Way.

The view will be best in the next week around 3 a.m. local when the planets are almost due South in the sky and the Moon does not interfere.

Mars will be getting brighter until May 30th when it will be closest to the Earth and will be rising earlier and earlier. On May 22nd it will rise at sunset when the Red Planet is directly opposite the Sun.

Enjoy the view and I hope the clouds clear soon.

Sky Guy in Still Cloudy VA