How do you recognize the planets in the night sky?

Question

Mars by being red, venus by being bright and low and only near dusk/dawn (??)

And the rest?

Answer 1

I recognize them by knowing the background stars, and by following each of the planets from night to night, and from year to year. In most cases the planets are brighter than almost all the background stars.

Answer 2

Recognizing planets with the naked eye is a great skill, but hard to master and understand through a written answer. The best way to learn it is with some binoculars, a handful of information, and an open night to learn the night sky. Learning constellations and the location of stars is just as important, but lets start with the planets.

Planets orbit the sun, so their not always in the same place... they move around the sun. So 3 years from now, Jupiter won't be in the same position at midnight it is tonight at midnight. Although the overall color of the planets will appear the same, the luminosity of the object will change based on its position to the sun, and to the Earth.

You are right about Venus, and the same thing applies to Mercury. This is because they are close to the sun, and have relatively fast orbits around the sun because of this. Because they are so close, they are hard to view. You can only see them right after sunset, and right before sun rise. This is why they are so hard to observe. I personally don't worry about viewing them... I observe when I see them, but the only really interesting thing about them is their phases. It is more of a challenge for anyone new at astronomy. I've been observing the night sky for 5 years now and I've only pointed my scope at Venus and Mercury about 6 times for a couple of reasosn:

1. They really aren't that interesting to study. Its more of a challenge to see them, and I'm always up for a challenge!

2. They are hard to see and your timing has to be just right. I prefer viewing before dawn because there is hill blocking my view of the west, which is where the sun sets.

Mars isn't so much of a red as it is a pinkish. Its the faintest planet in the night sky next to Mercury. Sometimes is shows up as a very bright red because of its position in the sun and its postition to the Earth. Currently Mars is hard to see because it is setting early, and is faint.

Jupiter and Saturn show up as a yellowish collor, though Saturn shows up as more of a white. Both are very bright. Jupiter is the brightest object in the night sky next to the moon, of course. This is because Jupiter is coming pretty close to the Earth. Saturn is setting early like Mars, so it isn't a great time to view it. Jupiter is easy to spot in the night sky. Look for a big bright yellow dot that looks like a star, but is a lot larger. Because Jupiter is so large, you can see four of the Galolein (sorry I know I spelled that wrong) moons, Ganymede, Io, Europa, and Callistoe through a nice set of binoculars. A good telescope will get you to see a lot more of the 63 moons, as well as the big red spot, and some of the other complex weather systems.

Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are not visible to the naked eye and can only be seen by finding the exact coorordinates, or getting a telescope with a good auto-star feature. I've only seen Uranus once, and have never seen Neptune personally. Some free sky software will help you find these, but you need a pretty good telescope to see them.

I would recomend getting some free skycharts online to learn some of the basics of the night sky.

Good luck, and happy observing!

Answer 3

All will be in the plane of the zodiacal constellations.  Mercury will always be near the sun when it it visible. Jupiter will be one of the brighter things visible when it is not on the other side of the sun.  Saturn will also be fairly bright.  The others usually require a telescope to see.  If you get a copy of one of the astronomy magizines they always have a map of the visible stars and will tell you what planets are visible  

Answer 4

You won't be able to see Uranus or Neptune - they are too faint.

Venus - very, very bright, but never far from the sun

Mercury - extremely close to the sun, you'll only see it if you know where to look

Jupiter - bright white in the middle of the night

Mars - can be bright or not so bright, but always has a pinkish tint

Saturn - like a bright star but doesn't twinkle

Answer 5

They move from constellation to constellation, not staying in the same place for long. So you have to know what the constellations look like, and that extra star that doesn't belong is a planet. And if is in a different place later that proves it is a planet. It maybe weeks or months or even years for it to move far enough to notice easily though, depending on which planet it is and how carefully you note the position. Saturn moves especially slowly.

Oh, and the planets are limited to the constellations of the Zodiac. You never see a planet in the Big Dipper for example.

Answer 6

first, familiarize yourself with the night sky.  not just a one time thing either, go out every night and really look.  not just a passing glance.  learn the constellations and be able to tell when an object doesn't belong in that constellation.  If the object doesnt belong, watch it over several nights.  It should move and you will know it is a planet.   Give this enough time and you can almost call them "friends".

Answer 7

Tonight go outside and look to the south.  Near the moon you'll see a bright dot  bigger and brighter than the stars.  That's Jupiter.  

Answer 8

Venus follows the track of the sun and moon east to west.  The others possibly do too.

They act differently to stars.  If you call a star "twinkling", well a planet doesn't.

Otherwise do like the others say, learn the night sky...

Answer 9

http://www.stellarium.org/

This is great freeware that you can download and use to find just about anything you want in the sky.  Just tell it where you are and it will tell you what you  see.

All the planets follow an imaginary line in the sky called the elliptic.  Once you see a planet, then you can follow that line to see more.  

It is not hard at all to see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter, at the right times of the year and night.  Once you see them a couple times, you can easily start to recognize them on sight.  It just takes a little practice and patience.  Don't give up!