What's Up down under

It is official (here play fanfare of trumpets, roll of drums, confetti and fireworks). In addition to eight local newspapers in Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas, What's Up is now an international publication. Beginning last week the column is being carried on a Web page out of Sidney, Australia. Welcome to the good folks south of the equator who will soon be going into winter as we begin to enjoy the benefits of summer.

Any observation won't be all that great this week as the Moon will be full on Friday, May 8. That means most of the early evening viewing will be wiped out by the glare of the moon for a few days afterward.

At present, all five naked-eye planets are visible, although not at the same time. If you hurry you can catch Mercury just after sunset, but be quick because it will set shortly after the sun. Use binoculars to find it just above the western horizon. Do be careful not to get the sun in your binocular field of view. That could erase your eyesight permanantly in just a second.

Next Saturn can be found mid-evening just below the hindquarters of Leo, the Lion located almost due south. If you have a hard time finding Leo, find the Big Dipper in the north, locate the two innermost stars of the dipper, the ones on the side where the handle attaches. Draw a line between them and continue on south to find Leo. Another helper for finding Leo is the big backwards question mark which marks his head and mane.

For Jupiter you will need to wait until about 3:30 in the morning. The king of planets will be just above the eastern horizon. For an extra added attraction at Jupiter get your binoculars, look about one degree to the left of Jupiter where you might find one of the gas giant planets, Neptune. The pair should be in the same field of view.

Next, get a nice cup of coffee or hot chocolate and find a comfortable spot to rest for about an hour for the next planetary pair, Venus and Mars, to clear the horizon enough to be observable.

You won't be able to miss Venus, it is the brightest thing in the sky right now except for the Sun and the Moon. A telescope will show a nice crescent shape. Look down and to the left for a very dim Mars. It will be about six degrees away, about the width of a clenched fist held at arms length. That will put it almost in the same field of view in your binoculars. You may, however, need to put Venus just out of view on the right to find Mars.

The other gas giant planet, Uranus, is located between Venus and Jupiter. On May 21, a crescent Moon will serve as an assist in finding it.

SKY WATCH: Full Moon, May 8. Tonight, May 7, the Moon and the bright star, Spica, in Virgo, the Maiden, will be about 12 degrees apart in the early evening sky in the southeast. On Sunday, May 10, the moon will rise at about 11 p.m. and will be very close, about five degrees, from the bright star Antares in Scorpius, the Scorpion. Scorpius is a summer constellation, so guess what is coming closer. The Summer Triangle is already over the eastern horizon at 1 a.m. and the "Boys of Spring" are slipping off over the western horizon.

NEXT TIME: More astronomical blathering.