When and where can I see planets as stars? What are good online sources for astrological maps I can follow?

Question

Okay, let me elaborate. I meant ASTRONOMICAL, my bad ^_^ I do know the difference. But I heard that Venus and Mars could be seen near sunrise (or sunset), and someone told me that they could see Jupiter too. (?) I'm not sure if I believe the Jupiter part, since it seems too far away, but if there is any way I can see Venus or Mars, please let me know whether I can see it all year, or what time of year, and which direction in the sky I should look.

Answer 1

Try this interactive sky map link. You can set it to your location and then look and see what planets are visible and what time. If you are on the US east coast, look to the east in the morning and you will see Venus. At aroung 8:00 pm, look to the West and there are 3 planets visible close to the moon: Mars, Saturn and Mercury. Jupiter is almost straight up at that time and sets in the west around 2:00 am.

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/skychart/skychart.asp?setLocation=true

Answer 2

Outside. at night.
use google.

-fair enough-
You can see every planet except Pluto and Neptune with the naked eye. I'm not sure about Uranus... it might or might not be visible to the naked eye.
Mercury is only visible when it's at aphelion, right before dawn (it's very close to the sun) or after sunset.
Venus is visible a lot, before dawn or after sunset. Venus is the brightest celestial object besides the sun and moon.
The other planets are further out than earth and so are visible when the sun is not between the earth and that planet. Mars is fairly bright and red.
Jupiter is the next brightest object after Venus.
Saturn is somewhat bright--brighter than a lot of stars-- but not as bright as Mars.

Uranus and Neptune need telescopes, and you should have a decent idea where the planet is to look for it.

Pluto is hardly visible with a telescope, even if you know exactly where in the sky it's supposed to be.

Answer 3

question not very clear...planets cannot be seen with current technology, planet's light is being swallowed by the stars around which they circle, planets can only be detected by gravitational imprints in observations. Astrology fundamentally erroneous, connecting star system movements to earthly events is nonsense, plus astrology maps are all wrong: they have no relationship to the current state of these star systems since they have changed by the time their light have reached earth.

Answer 4

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/skychart/skychart.asp

you have to have Java for this to work, but is's a great sky map! you can enter where you are, the time your observing and it'll pull up the sky map. Plus it's interactive and printer friendly. I use this all the time when I take out my telescope. I hope it helps!

Here are some good astronomy sites to help you.
http://spaceweather.com/
http://www.heavens-above.com/ < satellite viewing
http://stores.ebay.com/Meade-Factory-Outlet_W0QQsspagenameZL2QQtZkm < Meade Referbished factory outlet
Hope the links work out for you!

Answer 5

first learn the difference between astronomy and astrology.....then we'll talk

Answer 6

http://www.heavens-above.com/

great amateur astronomy stuff