Michael Stone Talks Space

No secret here. I'm a HUGE fan of all things technical, science, earth and space oriented . So here's a celestial event that may interest you if you're up early Tuesday 4/19/11.

Rare Sight: Mercury to Meet Mars at Dawn on Tuesday (from Space.com)

"Skywatchers set your alarm clocks: On Tuesday morning (April 19), Mercury will appear to have a close encounter with Mars.

In reality, the two planets will actually be separated by about 161 million miles (259 million kilometers), but in Earth’s sky they will appear only 2 degrees (which  is about four moon widths) apart. You'll need to be up just before the sun, around 6:30 a.m. local time, to see this rare sight.

Mercury and Mars will appear very low in the eastern sky and will be difficult to see in morning twilight. You will need a very low eastern horizon, with few obstacles in the way."

More info on this and other celestial events here. (Thanks to Ken Vetter, official astronomer of the Michael & Susan show)