January Planetary Quintets

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Monica

Quintet in Moon Rising

Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and Mars
cavort early morning with fading stars
play with moon rising a bright quintet
her part’s the biggest, most brilliant yet

First among equals, she anchors the arc,
modulates phase in the fleeting dark
regulates rhythm, sets the tone
perfect timing tells night has flown

Mercury hurries –
too pale and too late –
No place for six
in this play date.

It'll be worth getting up in the wee hours just to see the lineup of planets. The green line depicts the ecliptic - Earth's orbital plane projected onto the dome of sky.
early January, courtesy EarthSky.org

Mercury catches up tonight, and five planets will play a moon-less quintet in the pre-dawn sky. Beginning around January 20 - through mid-February - you can see five bright planets at once in the predawn sky.

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6 Responses to January Planetary Quintets

  1. Monica's avatar Monica says:
    February 1, 2016 at 11:54 am

    Hi Sandy and thank you! I bet your Geezer saw lots of stars and planets on his cruise.

  2. SandySays' Weblog's avatar SandySays1 says:
    January 31, 2016 at 9:39 am

    Great poem and great info! Love to be enlightened by what I read.

  3. Monica's avatar Monica says:
    January 28, 2016 at 1:16 pm

    That makes me happy, Bluebee.

  4. beeblu's avatar beeblu says:
    January 28, 2016 at 1:41 am

    What a gorgeous poem to celebrate this phenomenon.

  5. Monica's avatar Monica says:
    January 27, 2016 at 5:59 pm

    Thank you, dear Gislinde

  6. giselzitrone's avatar giselzitrone says:
    January 26, 2016 at 4:45 am

    Wunderschön liebe Grüße und eine gute neue Woche Gruß und Umarmung Gislinde

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