Local astronomer sets the record straight on ‘planet parade’ viewing
Updated: 6:33 PM EST Feb 28, 2025
DISNEY PARKS. A RARE PARADE OF PLANETS IS MOVING ACROSS THE NIGHT SKY TONIGHT, AND SOCIAL MEDIA BLOWING UP ABOUT THIS. ALL SEVEN PLANETS BEING VISIBLE. BUT WILL IT LIVE UP TO THE HYPE? THAT’S THE BIG QUESTION. WLWT METEOROLOGIST ALLISON ROGERS WENT TO THE EXPERTS TO FIND OUT. HEY, ALLISON. HEY THERE GUYS. SO SEEING ALL SEVEN PLANETS IN THE NIGHT SKY SOUNDS LIKE A STARGAZERS DREAM, RIGHT? BUT LOCAL ASTRONOMER DEAN REGAS TELLS ME YOU MIGHT HAVE TO KEEP DREAMING. IT IS A REALLY RARE THING TO HAVE ALL SEVEN OF THE PLANETS THERE ON THE SAME KIND OF SIDE OF THE SKY. CINCINNATI ASTRONOMER DEAN REGAS IS SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT. IT LOOKS GREAT ON PAPER. WE GOT SEVEN PLANETS THAT ARE UP IN THE SKY RIGHT AFTER DARK. ONLY PROBLEM IS, A LOT OF THEM ARE REALLY HARD TO SEE AND TOO LOW IN THE SKY. REGAS TELLING ME SATURN AND MERCURY ARE TOO LOW TO SEE AND TO SEE URANUS AND NEPTUNE. YOU NEED A TELESCOPE. BUT DON’T LET THAT GET YOU DOWN. REGAS SAYS THE THREE YOU CAN SEE ARE STILL EYE CATCHING. VENUS IS UP IN THE WESTERN SKY, BLAZING AWAY, SUPER BRIGHT RIGHT NOW. JUPITER IS UP HIGHER IN THE SOUTH. AND THEN WE GOT MARS OVER THERE IN THE SOUTHEAST. THE BIG ASTRONOMICAL SHOW OF THE YEAR HAPPENS IN JUST TWO WEEKS. THE TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE. THE MOON WILL BE IN THE SHADOW OF THE EARTH, AND THE SHADOW WILL SLOWLY CREEP ACROSS, PLUNGING IT MORE INTO DARKNESS. AND THEN WHEN THE MOON IS IN TOTALITY, IT TURNS THAT EERIE ORANGISH REDDISH COLOR AND GETS THE NICKNAME THE BLOOD MOON. IT ALL STARTS AROUND 1 A.M. ON MARCH 14TH, WITH TOTALITY HAPPENING AROUND 230 TO 330 IN THE MORNING. AND IF YOU DO WANT TO SEE SOME PLANETS TONIGHT, START LOOKING WEST. REGAS SAYS YOU’LL BE. YOU’LL SEE A SUSPICIOUSLY BRIGHT LIGHT. AND THAT IS VENUS. AND THEN JUPITER IS GOING TO BE THE SECOND BRIGHTEST STAR BY LICKING. AND YOU CAN START BY LOOKING UP TOWARD THE SKY, TOWARD THE SOUTH. AND THEN DON’T FORGET, YOU CAN ALWAYS LOOK DOWN A
Local astronomer sets the record straight on ‘planet parade’ viewing
Updated: 6:33 PM EST Feb 28, 2025
Seeing all seven planets in our night sky is what many hope to catch Friday.”It is a really rare thing to have all seven of the planets there on the same kind of side of the sky,” said local astronomer Dean Regas. Regas is setting the record straight on what Friday night’s spectacle will bring. “It looks great on paper. We got seven planets that are up in the sky after dark. Only problem is, a lot of them are really hard to see and too low in the sky,” he said. Regas said Saturn and Mercury are too low to see. In order to see Uranus and Neptune, you need a telescope. Don’t let that get you down, though. He said the three planets you can see are eye-catching. “Venus is up in the western sky, blazing away, super bright right now. Jupiter is up higher in the south. And then we’ve got Mars over there in the southeast,” Regas said. The big astronomical show of the year happens in just two weeks — the total lunar eclipse.”The moon will be in the shadow of the earth and the shadow slowly creeps across, plunging it more into darkness. And then when the moon is in totality, it turns that eerie orangish, reddish color and gets the nickname the blood moon,” Regas said. It all starts around 1 a.m. on March 14, with totality happening around 2:30-3:30 in the morning.
CINCINNATI —Seeing all seven planets in our night sky is what many hope to catch Friday.
“It is a really rare thing to have all seven of the planets there on the same kind of side of the sky,” said local astronomer Dean Regas.
Regas is setting the record straight on what Friday night’s spectacle will bring.
“It looks great on paper. We got seven planets that are up in the sky after dark. Only problem is, a lot of them are really hard to see and too low in the sky,” he said.
Regas said Saturn and Mercury are too low to see. In order to see Uranus and Neptune, you need a telescope.
Don’t let that get you down, though. He said the three planets you can see are eye-catching.
“Venus is up in the western sky, blazing away, super bright right now. Jupiter is up higher in the south. And then we’ve got Mars over there in the southeast,” Regas said.
The big astronomical show of the year happens in just two weeks — the total lunar eclipse.
“The moon will be in the shadow of the earth and the shadow slowly creeps across, plunging it more into darkness. And then when the moon is in totality, it turns that eerie orangish, reddish color and gets the nickname the blood moon,” Regas said.
It all starts around 1 a.m. on March 14, with totality happening around 2:30-3:30 in the morning.
