Two planets are racing across the morning sky
Wake up early and look up. Mars and Jupiter are easy to see with just your eyes, and they are getting closer every day.
Two planets are shining in the morning sky. One is Jupiter, the biggest planet of all. The other is Mars, the red planet.
Every morning, Mars seems to move a little closer to Jupiter. It looks like a race! On 16 November they will look closest, so close that your little finger, held out at arm’s length, can almost cover both.
Star or planet?
Stars twinkle. Planets shine with a steady light. Stars are so far away that the moving air around Earth makes their tiny light wobble. Planets are closer, so their light wobbles less.
How to spot them
1
Wake up 30 minutes before sunrise, with a grown-up.
2
Face the south-east and look high up in the sky.
3
Find a very bright dot that does not twinkle. That is Jupiter.
4
Close to Jupiter, look for a smaller orange-red dot: Mars!
Did you know?Planets make no light of their own. Sunlight bounces off them, like a torch shining on a ball.
Big wordplanet
A big, round world that travels around the Sun. Earth is one too!
A big, round world that travels around the Sun. Earth is one too!
Talk about itIf you could visit Mars or Jupiter, which would you pick? Why?