Loading...

And that's actually fairly bright for Mercury into the negative magnitudes. Speaking of which, the magnitude scale is an inverse logarithmic scale, meaning as the magnitudes increase, the apparent brightness of an object decreases by a factor of 2.5. The dimmest object that a human eye can see is about a magnitude 5 object than a magnitude 6 object. Or a magnitude 7 object is 2 and 1 half times dimmer than a magnitude 6 object. And you will definitely need a binoculars or a telescope to see anything greater than 6 magnitude. For those of you who live in cities or very near them, about the best you're going to do with the naked eye is about fourth magnitude. So here in Denver, you can see it. A lot of those dim stars are totally washed out by all of the city lights. So you'll definitely have to get out into the country to spot anything dimmer than that. But as always, definitely point your binoculars toward those objects that you can see, those planets and the moon and the stars. And scan your Milky Way or point your telescope up there. And take a look at those objects as well. See the details for you. Continuing on with Venus. Venus is rising about 541 AM this week. Look for Venus to the east by now before sunrise. Venus moves from the constellation of Leo into Virgo, shining at magnitude minus 3.9 on the 15th. We've got Mars. Mars is setting about 710 PM this week. Look for Mars low to the west in the evening, about 30 minutes after sunset as well. Mars moves from the constellation of Virgo into Libra, shining at magnitude 1.5. And actually, Mercury is shining brighter than Mars. They're both very, very low to the western horizon. So you may be able to definitely get your binoculars out there and see if you can spot both of those planets. Actually, they're fairly close together right now. They're almost in conjunction back on the 19th. So if you can find one, you may be able to find the other. This is actually a little bit brighter than Mars.