Planet spotting

[Milzy]

How is it possible to view the inner planets from the back side of Earth at night?

 

[ClichéGuevara]

How is it possible to view the inner planets from the back side of Earth at night?

Is that Uranus?

 

[Beebo]

The simple answer is that you can’t always see all of the planets. Just as you can’t always see the sun and moon.
So I don’t think your question is correct.

 

[figbat]

You can’t. That’s why Venus is known as the morning star and evening star - it is visible either at sunset or sunrise. Mercury is too small to see but can be spotted when it transitions the Sun (with the right setup).

 

[Milzy]

Good answers. 🌎 🌙 🪐

 

[wheresthetorch]

You can’t. That’s why Venus is known as the morning star and evening star - it is visible either at sunset or sunrise. Mercury is too small to see but can be spotted when it transitions the Sun (with the right setup).

It is possible to just see Mercury with the naked eye at certain times of the year at sunrise and sunset - the first recoding of an observation of Mercury was in 265 BC, so you don't need optical aid.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Couple of weeks ago for best time to see Mercury, Venus very bright at moment

 

[Grant Fondo]

Ps June 4th for Venus max when its close to Mars.

 

[gbb]

Plaedies always intrigues me. Usually visible if Orion is, look to the right of Orions shoulder.
Its stars are millions (500 million perhaps) of light years from each other yet you can see cluster grouped together. So the closer you got, the further away they'd appear in relation to each other.

Its surprising what you can see even with a good birdscope, the moons of Jupiter (the larger of them anyway) appear as four pinpricks of light, quite visible.

 

[numbnuts]

How is it possible to view the inner planets from the back side of Earth at night?

You can with this.....even when it's cloudy
https://stellarium.org/

 

[Grant Fondo]

Its surprising what you can see even with a good birdscope

Agree, particularly if light pollution is minimal, makes all the difference. This photo is with phone at 12.30am in rural Anglesey, Jupiter I think in shot. With even small binoculars the amount of stars you can see is amazing.