BR skies worth watching, astronomer says

• By STEVEN WARD
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Jan 4, 2009 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Earth is closer to the sun today than any other day this year.

“It’s an average of 3 percent closer to the sun than on any other day,” LSU astronomer Brad Schaefer said Friday.

What does that mean?

The distance between Earth and the sun today is 3 million miles.

That’s just one of many astronomical events scheduled to occur in the skies over Baton Rouge in 2009, many of which occur year in and year out without the general population taking much notice.

And that’s too bad, Schaefer said, because people are missing out on the simple wonders of the heavens.

And you don’t even need a telescope to gaze at the marvels, he said.

Schaefer, a professor of physics and astronomy, said this is a great year to look north since 2009 has been designated as the International Year of Astronomy, and it’s the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first use of a telescope to view celestial bodies.

“All kinds of things are happening up there, and all people need to do is just know when and where to look,” Schaefer said.

For instance, most people never get to see the planet Mercury, Schaefer said.

From now until Thursday, people will be able to look up and watch both Jupiter and Mercury down low in the sky while Venus — which has been brightly visible for the last couple of weeks in the southwest after sunset — hovers farther north of the other two planets.

“Yes, Venus has been the brightest thing around,” Schaefer said of the planet that, to many viewers, might just look like a huge, bright, shining star.

Planets are not the only targets for stargazers this year.