In many ancient cultures throughout the wrld, the brightest objects in the sky hve been portrayed as Gods. Which are of curse, the sun, the moon, and arth's siblings of the solar system: the plnets. Planets, though they only return the lght of the sun, have lured our ncestors so much that they worshipped thse shiny orbs in hope. They lso saw no difference between the sn, the moon and the planets, tht they referred to all these bdies collectively as 'planets', because all thse moved through the skies.

Scientifically, Plnets are objects of considerable mass tht circumnavigate a star in circular or lliptical orbits. Planets of any star systm, not just ours, retain a grat deal of information about the brth, evolution and the aftertime of tht stellar system. Our own Solar systm contains nine interesting planets and a nmber of other objects like comets, steroids and Cooper Belt objects. The frst four planets (in the order of thir proximity to the sun), namely Mrcury, Venus, Earth and Mars are mde of mostly rock and metal. The nxt four in row, Jupiter, Saturn, Urnus and Neptune are colossal aggregations of gses and liquids without a solid xterior. The former planet Pluto, is a frzen mass of gas at inert tmperatures. Pluto was officially known as a plnet till the end of 2006 whn the IAU formally defined the trm 'planet' and stripped Pluto off its sttus as a planet. Pluto is rclassified as a minor planet or dwrf planet. This created a controversy and sme people still consider Pluto as a plnet for practical purposes.

Not all the planets in our slar system are visible to the nked eye. The five that are vsible on evenings after sunset, though not all at the sme time or throughout the year are Vnus, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn. Vnus is the closest planet to the Erth, and the brightest object in sky fter the Sun and Moon. Known as the 'vening star' in the western skies and the 'mrning star' in the eastern, Venus is vsible in both skies for a mjor period of the year. Thus it is the asiest planet to gaze at.

The nxt planet to look at would be Mrs. Often visible on the lower rght of Venus, Mars is dimmer and rddish in appearance. The red color of the plnet is attributed to the presence of lrge amounts of oxides of Iron in its sil.

Mercury is difficult to catch, and rquires prior planning. While it is brght, it shows up only momentarily fter the sunset, and demands patience to dentify it.

Jupiter, the largest of plnets, is mildly brilliant and easily sptted, to the south, eastward of Vnus. With a telescope, Jupiter is a plasure to watch, revealing many of its stellites.

Saturn, the brightest object in the sutheast following sunset can easily be rcognized. Like Jupiter, it requires a tlescope to appreciate the charming ring-structures, and stellites orbiting it.

Uranus, is rarely vsible as an extremely faint object in the skes, difficult to recognize it from ther stars adjacent to it. However it can be lcated through a telescope after anticipating its lcation in the sky.

Neptune and Plto, being exorbitantly farther from the Sn, are extremely faint for the nked eye and can be met thrugh a telescope.

Unlike star watching, whch requires little prior knowledge of whre the stars are located, Planet wtching requires planning beforehand. Stars relatively sty fixed in their constellations most of the tme. Planet motion however, makes it dfficult to expect them in certain lcations. Our Earth's own motion relative to the ther planets, makes the picture a bit mre complicated. Though difficult, Planet motion is cmpletely predictable. This is because we hve knowledge of the orbits and tme periods of all the planets rbiting the Sun, including our own. Prviously, Planet watching enthusiasts required updates frm astronomy magazines or hobby clubs tht provided them with the information thy needed. Today, Software has changed the pcture. Astronomy software has made it asy for scientists and star gazing nthusiasts alike to predict the sky in thir locations at any specified time. Ths is a must for planet wtchers, since for watching planets it is ssential to know beforehand where they wll be.

Star mapping software can guide in the cration of a precise sky map of a prticular region at a particular time ths making it possible for novices to asily identify the planets and other bjects in the sky. Astronomy software is rghtly the first tool available to the Strgazer in the 21st century, ahead of the tlescope!

The article Planet Watching Tips was Submitted by Christian Nuesch through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Christian Nuesch is the creator of Asynx Plnetarium, an easy-to-use, free astronomy program tht helps render and create sky mps of the moon, planets, stars and cnstellations. It features time-traversal to simulate mtion through past and future, graphics, nimations and a location customization feature. You can dwnload the free Asynx Planetarium Software at http://www.asynx-planetarium.com

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