Venus and Mars

[AlMorr]

I have just been out in my garden at 5.40 am and can see both Venus and Mars shining brilliantly with the moon in between, Venus is to the east, Mars to the south west, both fairly high in the sky, must be lovely for a runner to see those two planets shining so brightly while out on their early morning run.

[Cockneymick]

Hop you had a good run Al, I had to stop again due to my calf. Fully recovered now and have ran 30mins every two days for past two weeks. I did 5k in 29 minutes! 👍🍀👊

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to Cockneymick]

No, I wasn't out for a run at that time, just noticed the two planets from my garden, in fact I had my dressing gown on, sorry about your calf injury but glad to know that you are back running and well done on that sub 30 minutes PB 5K 🏃‍♂️👍

[Cockneymick in reply to AlMorr]

Thanks, sounds like an amazing sight (not your dressing gown the planets!) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🍀🏃‍♂️

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to Cockneymick]

No one saw me in the garden in my dressing gown, I was only outside for two minutes.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10]

Missed it... too light here by 6. Not been out for a run yet either 🤣

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Still plenty of days and weeks to see those two planets in the early morning.

[Buddy34 Graduate10]

How great to spot this AlMorr. 😊👍🪐

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to Buddy34]

You can't miss Venus in the early morning shinning so brightly in the east, old timers called Venus "Der Morgen Stern* the morning 'star', it's a planet, not a star, Mars is at it's brightest for many years, Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love, Mars is "The Roman god of War". or the Red Planet.

[Speedy60 Graduate10]

That sounds lovely - too early for me though I'm afraid.

I thought this post was going to be about the difference between men and women running. 😆

[Irishprincess Graduate10 in reply to Speedy60]

Me too 😂

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to Irishprincess]

I am sure that there are some runners around at that time of the morning, some have infact reported that they have ran their graduation run at that time.

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to Speedy60]

Venus the Roman goddess of love, Mars the Roman god of war or the Bringer of War in the Planet Suite by Gustav Holst the composer who wrote a piece of music called 'The Planets'.

[Grannyhugs Graduate10]

Ooh I love when they come back into view, still sleeping thankfully though at that time.

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to Grannyhugs]

Venus is very bright in the east at the moment, you can't miss it.

[Birdlady64 Graduate10]

Yep was still sleeping, and awoke to grey dismal cloud ☹️

But that view sounds lovely. Even better if you have a telescope

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to Birdlady64]

I do have binuculars and see the reddishness of the planet Mars, that is why Mars is called 'The Red Planet', they are hoping to send men or women to Mars within the next 10 years, who know they might even run a 5k there, ha.

[nowster Graduate10]

Mars is currently the closest to Earth it's going to be for a couple of years, with its closest point in early October.

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to nowster]

Yes I read about that in Sky Astronomy News.

[MccHa Graduate10]

Hi Al, 2 of the best Planets out there...

The days of using Mars and Venus for navigation are truly gone Al, Shame as I remember when I was a cadet / junior officer using those Planets for early morning ships position fix with the chief officer before the Captain comes to the bridge 😂😂😂...

I blame the GPS for that as all our navigation equipments are setup using the GPS hardly any terrestrial fix .

[Birdlady64 Graduate10 in reply to MccHa]

You mean you don't do it all with solar compass and equatorial sextant any more? I am disappointed 😉

[MccHa Graduate10 in reply to Birdlady64]

Hi 👋, Good old Sextant 👍 still onboard somewhere 😂😂😂 hardly been used nowadays only the cadets use it to finish their college tasks and that’s it I’m afraid 😧

All our navigation charts are electronic (ECDIS SYSTEM) no more paper charts and manual correction by the 2nd mate 👍👍👍

Technology at sea moved on in a very short time , I use my iPhone 📱 or iPad to see where we are 😁😁

Well now, you know what’s happening onboard ships 🚢

[Birdlady64 Graduate10 in reply to MccHa]

Wonders of modern technology. Amazing until it breaks and then it can leave you stranded, a bit like the NATS air traffic control failure about 7 or 8 years ago when they had to resort to pen and paper. Real old school stuff!

Can't believe you use your iphone though...😁

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to MccHa]

Not just that, but at sea you must have great views of the universe at night with no light pollution, all those meterors entering the earth can be seen easily at sea.

[Birdlady64 Graduate10 in reply to AlMorr]

Yes. There is too much light pollution over most of Britain but I've been to some fantastic places where the night sky has been truly amazing - cruising around The Maldives was one!

[MccHa Graduate10 in reply to AlMorr]

Beautiful views of the skies Al, on clear nights north or south of the equator, all major planets 🪐 and stars constellations 🌌 so clear and looks very near to you👍 You can reach and touch them👍

I get the stars book out (the almanac) and start tracking them 😂😂😂

very interesting 🧐 Only if u are into astronomy... otherwise my wife thinks I’m gone Loopy 😂😂😂

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to MccHa]

I have an app named SKY MAP, you can point it at whatever is in the sky and it tells you the name of the stars, planets, constellations, etc, it works directly to what you are pointing to, if I am not sure what that bright star or planet is, I go to sky map, point my phone at the object in the sky and then I know the name of the planet or star.

[MccHa Graduate10 in reply to AlMorr]

Thanks for the info, Will download the app, so handy 👍

[59er Graduate10]

Not sure that would ever be me out there at that time AlMorr!

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to 59er]

I certainly have never ran at that time, the earliest I have ran is 6.30am, that was to avoid the heat of later in the day.

[59er Graduate10 in reply to AlMorr]

There's something about running early in the morning when the world isn't awake yet or just waking up. A wonderful feeling to be up with the Lark out running. I am a bit wary of going where there aren't too many people however. It's a fine line nowadays of getting away from it all and being safe unfortunately.

[JonathanP Graduate10]

I love that a post about planets on a running forum gets so many responses!😀 Thanks Al! 👍

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to JonathanP]

Indeed JP, I was just thinking that it would be a lovely site of those two planets, especially Venus being so bright for any runner to look at if they were out a run at that time.