Three planets in a row

Currently seen the planets Mercury, Venus and Saturn in the morning sky before sunrise the third December is the three planets in a row.

Currently performing the three planets Mercury, Venus and Saturn a cosmic dance in the morning sky before sunrise. Thus stood Venus and Saturn very close together on 27th November, but clouds blocked unfortunately, the view of the planet parade.

If it is clear weather on Monday, the 3rd December, it will be possible to see Mercury, Venus and Saturn in a row with Mercury at the bottom, Venus and Saturn in the middle at the top.

The best time will be short before time. 7, where the three planets are like pearls on a string above the southeastern horizon. It is a great opportunity to see Mercury, which can be difficult to catch, as it always is relatively close to the Sun. That's because it orbits closer to the Sun than Earth.

Different worlds

In the sky looks like the three planets bright stars, but in reality these are vastly different worlds.

Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun. Its diameter is approx. 2.6 smaller than Earth and has a surface similar to the Moon. The temperature difference between the planet's day and night side is extremely large: typically between +400 and -170 degrees Celsius. That's because Mercury has no atmosphere to distribute heat and thereby reduce major differences.

Venus is the brighter of the two. In fact, the planet the brightest natural object in the sky after the Sun and Moon. The impressive brightness is due to a dense layer of clouds that always envelops the planet and effectively bouncing the sun's light. The clouds consist not of water droplets but of sulfuric acid.

Saturn is the solar system's second largest planet. Its diameter is well over nine times larger than the Earth and it weighs 95 times more than our planet. Saturn, like Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune, no solid surface. It consists mainly of gas, but however is presumed to have a solid core. Saturn is most famous for its huge ring made up of countless large and small dirty ice cubes.