JUST ORIENT YOURSELF WEST-NORTHWEST. — Hey Marylander's, look up! This week four planets will be visible in the night sky around sunset. Just orient yourself west-northwest at 7:26 PM EDT for the best view. Jupiter and Mercury can be best seen near the horizon.
While Venus and Mars can be noted overhead. Uranus on the other hand will be slightly higher up and to the left of Venus, but because of it's proximity to Earth will be nearly 9,000 times dimmer. Which means if you don't have binoculars or a telescope, you won't be able to see it. With a naked eye, Venus will look like the brightest white dot, followed by Mars and Jupiter with slightly less bright white dots, and lastly, Mercury as the dimmest white dot. This phenomena only happens once a year as Mercury and Venus make there way around the same side of the sun. The moon is also in the waxing crescent phase.
Of course, this will be great to see if we have a clear night with minimal light pollution. Unfortunately, here in Baltimore there is a lesser chance to see it than in western Maryland or along the eastern shore. Here is a look at light pollution around the state and country.
Lastly, the little the cloud cover the better. It does look like due to a system well to our south, that there could be some broken clouds in our viewing area between 7-8 PM. Sky watchers hope for the best!
If you get any pictures of the sky feel free to send them in to WMARMeteorologists@scripps.com or tag @WMAR2News and @allyblakewx . Maybe you will see them on air!
