All the Planets in One Night

[DeepSkyBagger]

I honestly don't know how often this is possible, but once, I observed all the planets in a single night. It was the 14th April 1986, and I was at a campsite about 7 miles from Ayers Rock, or Uluru, as it is more usually called now, right in the centre of Australia. I was there because of Halley's comet, which was far better seen in the southern hemisphere than in the north.

The first planet seen was lovely Venus, brilliant in the early evening sky, and setting about an hour after the Sun. One thing I noticed whilst on my Australian trip was that (at least during April), there's no appreciable twilight. The Sun sets and it goes dark, just like that, so even though it set only an hour after the Sun, Venus was a dazzling object against a virtually black sky.

I had to wait a little for the next targets to become available, but by 0100, I was ready for the meat of the night. Saturn was in Ophiuchus, riding high, with fairly wide-open rings, and Titan appearing to the planet's south. A lovely sight in my friend's portable 6" reflector.

Uranus came next, also in Ophiuchus but slightly lower in the sky than Saturn. Still lying a good 40 degrees or so above the horizon, the 6" showed a bright, pale green star.

The real challenge came a few minutes later. Using the finder chart in the BAA handbook, my friend carefully positioned the 6" on the location of Pluto (still a planet in those heady days). In Virgo and very well placed (maybe 60 degrees or so above the horizon), we strained a little, but with the really dark skies, we both spotted the elusive planet as a minute speck close to the limit of what could be seen. We were both certain, however, and another observer nearby turned his C8 to Pluto, and although the fields were reversed, we confirmed our most difficult bag of the night.

On to easier stuff. Mars was now nicely visible, decoratively placed on the edge of the great globular cluster M22 in Sagittarius, shining at about mag 0, a brilliant ruby against the black velvet sky.

Just three degrees away lay Neptune, visible in the 6" as a bright, pale blue star.

There was some time to wait now before our final planetary targets. Jupiter rose at about 0400 and Mercury about an hour later. I will never forget these two brilliant points of light - Jupiter at mag -2 and Mercury at mag 0 - shining against the dusky glow of the morning zodiacal light.

Truly a night to remember. Just one more to do. I stared at the gritty red ground between my feet. It looked more like the Viking photos of Mars. But it was definitely Earth.

[Paul73]

Wow. There can't be many who have bagged the lot in one night.

Great writeup. Thoroughly enjoyed the read.

Paul

[DeepSkyBagger]

Thanks Paul.

[christhebrit]

Awesome times, and serious equipment for the years past. Thank you for the write up, I hadn't thought this was possible.

[Stu]

Sounds like a fabulous night DSB. Just walked through the whole thing on SkySafari, your account is bang on, very accurate and beautifully described.

The best I managed was back in the 'noughties' somewhen, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter Saturn and the Moon all strung out in a long alignment, very nice.

Stu

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[DeepSkyBagger]

Hi Stu,

So glad someone made the effort to check! It was a good night, though not the best. My log recalls a virtual sandstorm that night, with lamps on wires swinging wildly about disrupting any observing that the windstorm hadn't already ruined. Still, nine planets in one night, it still lives in my memory, along with the dingos that howled at sunrise! Good job I wasn't deep-sky observing that night!

[cuivenion]

Very impressive. I've never fancied going to Australia but it sounds fantastic for Astronomy.

[DeepSkyBagger]

The best skies I have ever seen were from a little place called Kulgera, which is on the Stuart Highway just north of the South Australia/Northern Territories border. There's a roadhouse, a campsite and I think a police station. Google-map it, you'll see that's it's in the middle of miles and miles of empty outback. I wouldn't want to live there, but Wow! The skies! The horizon was only detectable because the Milky Way just stopped. It was utterly stunning.

[andrew63]

That's a great time you had, made extra special by the incredible location - and Pluto to boot !  I think last year, someone posting on here managed to see Mercury to Neptune on one night - but it is rare.

What was Halley like ?  From here it was a smudge in binoculars as i recall !

andrew

[DeepSkyBagger]

Halley was my first naked-eye comet, so it has a special place in my heart, but it was never spectacular. It peaked at about mag 2.5, with a naked eye tail a couple of degrees long, stretching to 7 or 8 with large binoculars. More recently, Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp were both much more impressive visually.

It was a great time for me, I was in my 20s, travelling around Australia with a few mates - and I made more friends whilst I was there, including Patrick Moore, who was travelling with us. One evening, round a campfire, I had a seven-hour long conversation with him. Everybody else got bored and drifted away.

The overriding memories, though, are of Australia and Australians. I absolutely loved the place, and the people were brilliant with us. I'll get back one day, and this time I'll have a proper 'scope with me!

[Lorne]

Enjoyed reading that report. Nights like that are probably once in a lifetime.

[swamp thing]

The best I managed was back in the 'noughties' somewhen, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter Saturn and the Moon all strung out in a long alignment, very nice.

Stu

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I remember that Stu it was kinda cool to see them all like that.

Nice report DSB enjoyed reading it

[RT65CB-SWL]

Sounds like a fabulous night DSB. Just walked through the whole thing on SkySafari, your account is bang on, very accurate and beautifully described.

The best I managed was back in the 'noughties' somewhen, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter Saturn and the Moon all strung out in a long alignment, very nice.

Stu

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I remember that Stu it was kinda cool to see them all like that.

Nice report DSB enjoyed reading it

I remember it too...

[Stu]

Found it! Spring 2002.

Stu

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[RT65CB-SWL]

Well done Stu!   I have been scratching my head and thinking about this all evening.  

[kerrylewis]

See this thread: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/200902-all-the-major-planets-in-one-night/

I managed it although strictly speaking it was in one day. As I said then, it is oddly satisfying. More than just ticking them off, it gives you a great overview of our solar system

Kerry

[tarotrocola]

Found it! Spring 2002.

Stu

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Fantastic view.. think of it, put a high power eyepiece, and without stop watching through the eyepiece, manage to view them all...

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great report. Haven't managed more than 4 in one night

[stevend]

If conditions permit, and you have good views of the SW horizon, then January 13th/14th 2015 could be interesting. 

On January 13th just after 1700 Mercury and Venus will be very close together and VERY low on the SW horizon. Then move up a little to Mars and Neptune also in the SW. Onto Uranus higher up again in the South and as an aside have a look for Lovejoy in the SE.

Move to the East to pick up Jupiter and then the Moon and Saturn in the early hours.

Edit: I have put this in the SGL calendar.