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----------------------------------------------------------------------- Eight planets and moon to line up in a heavenly show ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SACRAMENTO, Calif. (December 2, 1997 00:41 a.m. EST) Some might call it an exquisite celestial necklace. Others, no doubt, will see in it as a sign of doom. Whatever you call it, where skies are clear this evening will come an unusual view of five planets arrayed in a quarter arc beside a crescent moon. It should make a pretty sight just after sunset. In fact, seven of the eight planets that share the solar system with Earth will be in an alignment of sorts, though Uranus and Neptune will be visible only with the help of a binocular or telescope. "Just knowing that they're there, I think, makes it interesting," said Glen Erickson, Astronomy Club adviser at the University of California, Davis. In any event, the show is free, and happening at a convenient time, right after sundown. Here's how to see it: Pick a spot with a clear horizon to the west. As the sun disappears, shift slightly left, so that you're pointed southwest. The first planet visible to sharp eyes, slightly above the horizon, is Mercury. Those who see Mercury will become part of an exclusive group. "Most people have never seen it because it's always close to the sun," said Harold Nations, astronomy lecturer at California State University, Sacramento. A sliver moon, already up, will become more distinct in the darkening sky above Mercury. Just below and to the left of the moon is Mars. Above and to the left of Mars is Venus. Venus you can't miss. "Almost invariably, 'star light, star bright, first star I see tonight' is Venus," Erickson said. It's so startlingly bright that people sometimes mistake Venus for a UFO. Above and to the left of Venus is Jupiter, appreciably fainter. Between those two planets are Neptune and Uranus, visible with a binocular, telescope or good imagination. Finally, fainter than Jupiter, is Saturn, completing the arc. Some semblance of the alignment will continue to be visible through the week, though the moon will travel across and above the planetary arc. The array of celestial objects has some sky watchers swooning. "It's quite beautiful, an exquisite grouping of the moon and planets," said Jack Horkheimer, executive director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of the public television program "Star Hustler." [website: http://www.starhustler.com] "This is naked-eye astronomy at its best." How rare is such a grouping? It's hard to say. Some astronomers argue that this isn't a true alignment, because the planets are not in a straight row. And Pluto's not in the mix. "Pluto's hopeless," said Erickson. "It's not in line, it's off on the side, it's too close to the sun to be seen." Ray Gray, president of the Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society, said a straight-row alignment will appear on May 5, 2000, an event that some people see as the mark of an impending cataclysm. The planets were arrayed similarly about 300 years ago, said Gray, who doesn't subscribe to the doom theory. "The world didn't end 300 years ago, so it certainly won't end now," he said. One could argue -- and Erickson does -- that the planets are always in alignment, since the solar system is laid out on a plane, like a pizza. We just don't see the alignment all the time from the vantage point of Earth. By EDIE LAU, Sacramento Bee Copyright 1997 Nando.net Copyright 1997 Scripps-McClatchy Western <http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/health/120297/health3_24888_noframes.html> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- janet [log in to unmask]