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an alignment of planets presented by

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science at nasa

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note to sky watchers put on your winter

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coats what you're about to hear might

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make you feel an uncontrollable urge to

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dash outside

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the brightest planets in the solar

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system are lining up in the evening sky

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and you can see the formation some of it

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at least tonight

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go out at sunset and look west

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venus and jupiter pop out of the

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twilight even before the sky fades

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completely black

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the two brilliant planets surrounded by

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evening blue is a beautiful sight

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if you go out at the same time tomorrow

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the view improves because venus and

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jupiter are converging

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in mid-february they are about 20

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degrees apart by the end of the month

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the angle narrows to only 10 degrees

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so close that you can hide them together

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behind your outstretched palm

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their combined beauty grows each night

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as the distance between them shrinks

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a special night to look is saturday

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february 25th when the crescent moon

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moves in to form a slender heavenly

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triangle with venus jupiter and the moon

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as vertices

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one night later on sunday february 26th

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it happens again

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this arrangement will be visible all

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around the world from city and

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countryside alike

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the moon venus and jupiter are the

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brightest objects in the night sky

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together they can shine through urban

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lights fog and even some clouds

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after hopping from venus to jupiter in

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late february the moon exits stage left

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but the show is far from over

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in march venus and jupiter continue

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their relentless convergence until on

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march 12th and 13th the duo lie only

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three degrees apart a spectacular double

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beacon in the sunset sky

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now you'll be able to hide them together

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behind a pair of outstretched fingertips

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there's something mesmerizing about

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stars and planets bunched together in

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this way and no you're not imagining

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things when it happens to you

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the phenomenon is based on the anatomy

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of the human eye

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your eye is a bit like a digital camera

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explains optometrist dr stewart hiroyasu

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of bishop california

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there's a lens in front to focus the

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light and a photo array behind the lens

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to capture the image

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the photo array in your eye is called

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the retina it's made of rods and cones

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the organic equivalent of electronic

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pixels

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there's a tiny patch of tissue near the

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center of the retina where cones are

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extra densely packed

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this is called the fovea

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whatever you see with the phobia you see

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in high definition hiroyasu says

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the fovea is critical to reading driving

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watching television the fovea has the

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brain's attention

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in the weeks ahead the moon and planets

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will frequently appear near enough to

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each other for us to see them in high

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definition the field of view of the

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fovea is only about five degrees wide

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almost every night in march venus and

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jupiter will fit within that narrow cone

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and when they do presto it's

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spellbinding astronomy

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standing outdoors mesmerized by planets

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aligned in a late winter sunset you

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might just forget how cold you feel

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bring a coat anyway