Fall sky watch: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars ready to shine Tuesday night

Heads up night owls.

There’s a beautiful planetary sky show over Minnesota in the next few weeks. Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars will all grace our late-evening skies this fall.

Our crisp clear fall nights make for some of the best stargazing of the year. Over the coming weeks watch for this sting of planets across the sky from the southwest into the east or from right to left in the sky after 10 p.m.

• Saturn

  Look for Saturn in the south-southwest sky around 10 p.m. If you have a telescope you can make out the rings of Saturn. It is the second brightest object in the night sky.

• Jupiter

  So what’s the brightest object in the sky these days? Jupiter shines brilliantly high in the southern sky Tuesday night. You can make out four of Jupiter’s moons with really good binoculars or a small telescope. The map at the top of this post shows the relative positions of Jupiter and Saturday at around 10 p.m.

• Mars

  If you’re a super night owl you can see Mars, Jupiter, and Saturday strung across the entire sky between about 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. Mars rises in the east around 10 p.m. By midnight you can see Mars in the east, Jupiter in the south, and Saturn getting ready to set in the southwest after 1 a.m.

Other planets will be visible in the early morning sky.

Also look for the bright and prominent winter constellation Orion rising in the east near Mars. Orion rules the winter skies over Minnesota.

I’ve always saluted Orion for the winter weather he brings to Minnesota each year. When Orion the hunter becomes visible in the fall, you know winter is coming. When he sets in the March sky just after sunset, you know spring is close at hand.

Get out there and enjoy our beautiful night sky show in the next few weeks.