“Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.” -St. Augustine
When you look up at the sky, all the twinkling lights -- the stars -- appear to be fixed.
Image credit: The Curious Skywatcher, via http://curiousskywatcher.blogspot.com/2012/04/zodiacal-light-your-best-….
But littered among them are the non-twinkling wanderers: the planets. Just 11 days ago, the Mars/Venus conjunction occurred, giving us a spectacular view of two naked-eye planets separated by a mere half-a-degree. But tomorrow night, particularly for skywatchers in Europe and northern Africa, an even closer conjunction, of just 0.1°, occurs between Venus and Uranus, the closest one of the year.
Image credit: me, using the free software Stellarium, via http://stellarium.org/.
Don't miss it, and find out how to catch it for yourself!
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"All that is now
All that is gone
All that's to come
and everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon." -Pink Floyd
“O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.” -Romeo & Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2
“This then, I thought, as I looked round about me, is the representation of history. It requires a falsification of perspective.
“Derive happiness in oneself from a good day’s work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us.” -Henri Matisse
Nine planets. And don't give me any of that appeal to authority crap.
Eight planets, and don't give me any of that "It' always been nine!" crap.
Since I am not an authority, you will have to accept my definition.
@JCA #1: Pity you're so ignorant of astronomical history. By your own implicit definition, you should have said "Twelve planets." Or maybe "five planets." Or "seven planets." Since you clearly don't know what a "planet" is today vs. what a "planet" has been historically, you are clearly unqualified to make any assertion on the matter.