Tapok-tapok sa mga planeta (May 11, 2011)

[poison ivy]

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Wish makakita ko ani...just for a change.. I'll take note of this event...

[yhokz101]

mark your calendars.. this is not to be missed. hope the sky will be clear though up in here... thanks rods.

[okoy]

looking forward to seeing it...

[Untrue]

I smell a conspiracy here. O.o

[mariaClara]

ma kita man ni bisan asa sa world noh.. basta clear lang ang sky?

[rodsky]

ma kita man ni bisan asa sa world noh.. basta clear lang ang sky?

Yep as long as 4:40-5:15 AM local time, in that part of the world.

The main obstacles to seeing it are:

a) The weather
b) The earth itself (masalipdan sa earth before 4:30AM, i.e. the group hasn't risen from the east yet)
c) The brightness of daytime (i.e. kung ngit-ngit lang unta ang daytime, makit-an man unta ang event the whole day until about 4:00 PM...pero hayag man ang langit pag daytime).

-RODION

[rodsky]

UPDATE: The tapok has begun. If you wake up at 4:45 AM everyday starting this morning, until May 12-13, you would see the 4 planets slowly coming together over the eastern horizon.

The problem--weather doesn't seem to be cooperating.

-RODION

[THE SKULLS]

excited ko da. olrayts.

[observer]

Unless you're situated somewhere with a good view from horizon to zenith, you wouldn't be able to witness all these planets. At about 4:30am, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus and Mars would be "hanging" around the declination of 6 to 11 degrees in the Eastern part of the sphere. Any two-storey house could block your view, unless your vantage point is high enough. Uranus is reasonably high up, at 28-29 degrees, but at almost 6.0 magnitude, it's just not visible to the naked eye. And when they've apparently ascended high enough, the light pollution from the early sunrise just pulls the curtains down on the show like a party pooper.

[rodsky]

Unless you're situated somewhere with a good view from horizon to zenith, you wouldn't be able to witness all these planets. At about 4:30am, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus and Mars would be "hanging" around the declination of 6 to 11 degrees in the Eastern part of the sphere. Any two-storey house could block your view, unless your vantage point is high enough. Uranus is reasonably high up, at 28-29 degrees, but at almost 6.0 magnitude, it's just not visible to the naked eye. And when they've apparently ascended high enough, the light pollution from the early sunrise just pulls the curtains down on the show like a party pooper.

However, Uranus and Neptune are too far away from the group in terms of subtended angle, so they are not part of the gathering, even if they are indeed roughly located in the same area of the sky.

The best urban (in-city) vantage points to watch it pre-5:00am? High rise buildings with windows facing east. The best vantage point within reasonable driving distance? TOPS.

-RODION