BREATHTAKING PLANETS: "Standing on the summit of Mount Lawu, 3265m above sea level on July 21st, I was treated to one of the most beautiful views of my life," reports Jia Hao of Java, Indonesia. "With reknowed Mount Merapi and Mount Merbabu soaked in twilight colors and city lights from Solo shining like stars, four of the major planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn lined up in a row above western horizon."



Enlarged: http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2010/26jul10/Jia-Hao1.jpg?PHPSESSID=o41fehvlftk...

"The whole scene was simply surreal," he says, "and it did a much better job taking my breath away than the high altitude!"

Readers, take a deep breath, because this scene is about to get even better. Venus, Mars and Saturn are converging for a rare three-way conjunction in August. The show reaches its peak on August 12th and 13th when the crescent Moon joins them for a sunset gathering of surpassing beauty. Browse the sky maps for coming attractions:
July 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, August 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

For today:
http://www.spaceweather.com/images2010/27jul10/skymap_north.gif?PHPSESSID=o41feh...

The peack of alignment AUGUST 12:

http://www.spaceweather.com/images2010/12aug10/skymap_north.gif?PHPSESSID=o41feh...

AND AUGUST 13TH:
http://www.spaceweather.com/images2010/13aug10/skymap_north.gif?PHPSESSID=o41feh...

CELESTIAL TRIANGLE:  When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. Venus, Saturn, and Mars have converged to form a skinny triangle in the sunset sky. Adrian New sends this picture from San Antonio, Texas:

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2010/30jul10/Adrian-New1_strip.gif

Large image: http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2010/30jul10/Adrian-New1.jpg?PHPSESSID=r4uhra5v...


For the next few nights, Saturn and Mars will be especially close together, only 2o apart, forming an eye-catching pair opposite Venus. Keep an eye on the twilight!

http://www.spaceweather.com/images2010/30jul10/skymap_north.gif?PHPSESSID=r4uhra...

http://www.spaceweather.com/images2010/31jul10/skymap_north.gif?PHPSESSID=r4uhra...

When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. You might see something like this:


Enlarged: http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2010/07aug10/Babak-Tafreshi1.jpg?PHPSESSID=ui9j...

Babak Tafreshi sends the picture from the Alborz Mountains of Iran. "Venus, Saturn and Mars are in triple conjunction," says Tafreshi, "and they will be at their most beautiful in the nights ahead."

Next week, on August 12th, the trio will become a quartet when the crescent Moon joins the planets for an amazing four-way conjunction. Even more amazing, it happens on the peak-night of the Perseid meteor shower. Astronomy doesn't get much better than this!

For this weekend:

Aug. 7 - http://www.spaceweather.com/images2010/07aug10/skymap_north.gif?PHPSESSID=ui9j20...

Aug. 8 - http://www.spaceweather.com/images2010/08aug10/skymap_north.gif?PHPSESSID=ui9j20...

Aug. 9 -http://www.spaceweather.com/images2010/09aug10/skymap_north.gif?PHPSESSID=ui9j20...

And don't forget the interactive map:

http://www.astroviewer.com/interactive-night-sky-map.php