2002 PLANET PARADE
from Susie Cox, Astrologer
as reported by Leslie Shumate 2-18-2002

The night skies of 2002 offer celestial wonders for those who care to notice.

Tucson, Arizona Astrologer/Astronomer Susie Cox recommends enjoying the spectacular parade of planets being offered this year and also gives instructions on how to find them in the night sky.

Cox explained, "The planets are along the ecliptic and the ecliptic is the apparent path of the sun." To find the ecliptic she recommends going outside just after sunset, facing the south and visualizing where the sun was when it rose and where it set. The imaginary track between sunrise and sunset is the portion of sky where the planets reside. Early dawn and twilight hours are the best times for locating the planets since they are the first to appear after sunset and the last of fade at sunrise.

In the February nighttime sky Jupiter is first above the eastern horizon along the ecliptic path and is very bright. Cox said it is about where the sun would be at 10 AM. Further up in the arching path, about where the sun would be at noon, is Saturn. Continuing to where the sun would be around two in the afternoon, is Mars. "They [the planets] are always, always, always where the sun was during the day." Another way to identify planets is, planets shine…stars twinkle.

Each planet orbits the earth at a different pace which accounts for the varying positions in relation to each other. Cox recounted those orbits. "The sun, Mercury and Venus hang out together and go around once a year. The moon of course goes around once a month, that's the fastest one. Mars goes around the earth once every two years. Then we get to the slow guys. Jupiter has a twelve-year orbit, Saturn goes around once every 30 years. Slower yet, Uranus' orbit is 84 years, Neptune is 165 and Pluto, the last one way far out…248 years."

In 2002, because Mars is moving faster it will be gaining on Saturn until May 4 when it "conjuncts," which Cox said is a fancy word that basically means they hold hands in the sky. Mars then passes Saturn and on July 3 it passes Jupiter. Cox said, "We're going to be able to not only see these three planets but we will see the relative velocity between them, which is wonderful." She said observing the progressive movement gives people a chance to feel they are part of the universe by actually participating in the changes rather than just casually observing what they think is a stationary night sky.

Another planet very visible to earthlings is Venus which is referred to as both the morning star and evening star…even though it is actually a planet. The morning or evening classification depends on which side of the sun it is located. Venus will be the "evening star" February 25 through October 26. After its sojourn past the sun it becomes the "morning star" from November 7 through the end of the year. Venus is the most easily located because it is always near the horizon, in proximity to the sun. According to Cox, "Venus and Mercury hang out around the sun. Mercury is so close to the sun that it's really hard to see. I've only seen Mercury a few times. But Venus is fabulous."

Mars can be located in the ecliptic path by its reddish hue and will be visible this year from January 1 to June 24. As far as other planetary colors, Jupiter is a very bright white and Saturn, a little dimmer, has a slightly yellow tint. The colors are more easily seen with the naked eye, in fact Cox feels telescopes and binoculars prevent stargazers from seeing the overall picture. "Now if you want to look at the moons of Jupiter you can trip out with binoculars but, if you want to look at the movement of the planets you don't need binoculars… they actually get in the way."

Jupiter will be seen from January 1 through July 6 in the evening sky and then in the morning predawn from August 3 through the end of the year.

Saturn will tour evening skies January 1 through May 22 and be visible from June 28 through December 17 in the morning, then shifts back to evening skies until the end of the year.

The differing speeds of the planets moving in their individual orbits (relative velocity) creates an optical illusion that makes a planet being passed look like it's moving backwards. In an earthly comparison Cox said it is the same as riding on a train when it passes another one travelling in the same direction. The illusion created for passengers on the faster train is that the slower moving train appears to be moving backwards. When that happens among planets it is called a "retrograde" and Mercury goes retrograde most often… three times a year.

Speaking as an Astrologer, Cox defines Mercury retrogrades as a time to regroup, plan and prepare for moving forward but not to go into hiding as some over anxious astrologers would advise. "The only thing I wouldn't do during a Mercury retrograde is actually sign a contract, buy a house, buy a car… don't make real big decisions during that time because, that's the time for pulling all the information together and doing research." This year's Mercury retrogrades occur from January 18 to February 7, from May 15 to June 8 and from September 14 to October 6.

Getting back to this year's list of most noticeable planets Cox said, "We'll be able to see all of those planets throughout most of this year. Those are the visible planets and the dates…but, the whole trick is to find the ecliptic so you'll know where they are."