PAGASA: 2011's finest planetary alignments to occur in May

Five planets will align at least three more times this month in what state astronomers considered as the "finest planetary conjunctions" of this year. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the planets will line up in the eastern horizon at 5 a.m. on May 9, 13, and 30. "Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus and Neptune will be found lining-up above the eastern horizon ... (For) Uranus and Neptune (stargazers) will be needing a star map and a binocular or a modest-sized telescope for its proper viewing," PAGASA acting administrator Nathaniel Servando said in PAGASA's astronomical diary for May. "Saturn will be visible in the evening sky throughout the month. The Ringed planet will be located among the background stars of the constellation Virgo," he added. Also, he said the planets will lie among the background stars of the constellation Pisces, except for Neptune, which will be found at the constellation of Aquarius. He said the first line-up already occurred last May 1. Big Dipper Servando also said that after sunset, the grouping of stars known as Big Dipper is well placed high in the northeastern sky. "The North Star Polaris can easily be located under normal weather condition by using the reference or the pointing stars namely Dubhe and Merak. By using their distance, an imaginary line can be drawn downward passing to these two stars and counting five times," he said. Polaris is the end point star of the handle of the Small Dipper while the curved handle of the Big Dipper is pointing towards a bright orange star Arcturus of the constellation Bootes. — LBG, GMA News