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Starry Night Backyard and explore the night sky yourself.
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“Starry Night is an excellent
aid for exploring the heavens...a superb, well documented program that
will transform you into an expert in no time.”
--ZDNet, 5 star rating
"There are few experiences as invigorating as being out in the countryside standing under a canopy of star on a still night. Starry Night conveys that feeling better than any other desktop planetarium"
--New York Times
StarGazer
Each week most PBS stations air Star
Gazer with Jack Horkheimer, the world's first and only weekly TV series
on naked-eye astronomy. The images on this page illustrate the show for
the week of Monday,
May 29, 2000.
The Closest Meeting of the Two Largest Planets For 20 Years!!
Early risers can see Jupiter and Saturn very near each other in the northeast in late May and early June. This view is taken on Memorial Day, when the planets will be closest together.
A view of the solar system from above, also on Memorial Day. You can see that Earth, Jupiter and Saturn form almost a perfectly straight line, explaining why Saturn and Jupiter appear so close together in the sky.
The next time when Jupiter and Saturn will be extremely close together is Christmas 2020. At this time, they will be relatively high above the horizon after sunset, allowing observers the chance to see them together in total darkness.
