San Diego night owls are getting a true cosmic double feature this week: a planetary parade on Saturday evening followed by a total lunar eclipse in the predawn hours of next Tuesday. Venus and Jupiter, along with possibly Saturn, should be easy to spot with the naked eye shortly after sunset, while dimmer Uranus and Neptune will need binoculars or a small telescope. The total lunar eclipse will peak between about 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Pacific time, when the full Moon can slip into a coppery red during totality.
Locals are already plotting where to spread out their blankets. David Wood of the San Diego Astronomy Association pointed out that Jupiter will be the brightest object in the sky other than the Moon, and San Diego State University astronomy professor Douglas Leonard warned that the parade’s viewing window will be brief, according to CBS 8.
When To Look
The planetary parade builds through February and hits its peak this Saturday evening. Your best bet is to start looking roughly 30 minutes after sunset, when several planets will line up along the ecliptic low over the western horizon.
On a clear evening, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn should be visible to the unaided eye in many locations, while Uranus and Neptune will likely demand binoculars or a telescope. Mercury will be hugging the horizon, so it could be a blink-and-you-miss-it target…