I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but Mars, Jupiter and Venus are all clearly visible in the early evening sky at the moment above the UK (and I'm assuming elsewhere in the northern hemisphere too). The road I live on runs East-West, and Mars is up and visible in the East, and Jupiter and Venus are close together in the West.
If you haven't seen them already they're worth a look as all three planets are really easy to see at the moment. I live in a city with plenty of light pollution and those three planets are about the only three celestial bodies visible in the early evening. Apparently Jupiter and Venus will be closest together on Thursday (15th), and it's a particularly good conjunction;
http://earthsky.org/tonight/best-venusjupiter-conjunction-in-years-mid-march-2012
the other two visible planets, Mercury and Saturn are also visible this month, though not quite so easy to see in the sky;
http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/visible-planets-tonight-mars-jupiter-venus-saturn-mercury
I saw them last week and they were all in a line with the Moon at the end. It's not surprising our ancestors wondered what was going on.
Quote from: Tank on March 12, 2012, 07:14:13 PM
I saw them last week and they were all in a line with the Moon at the end. It's not surprising our ancestors wondered what was going on.
definite, they would have wondered what kind of celestial intrigue those three gods were up to! Jupiter and Venus are really bright too, it must have been even more impressive in the night sky before sodium street lights.
The Asmo saw some new spots of light in His darkness and decided that it must be Space Asmos trying to communicate. Then The Asmo went for a smoke and decided not to reply.
We are square in the middle of the rainy season, so come May or so when the clouds break, all those wandering lights will be in a different locations. :(