The Planets Line Up for SOHO

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft has begun to capture a rare portrait of the solar system – one where the planets are roughly on the other side of the sun from Earth. While some people fret that titanic cataclysms will cause havoc on Earth as a result, others are far more interested in the wonder of the celestial dance the other planets have begun to perform.

Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury are already within the field of view of SOHO’s Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO). Venus will appear on Friday 5 May. NASA will be airing animated imagery on NASA TV over the next few weeks as this planetary dance continues to unfold.

° NASA Press release (with broadcast information)

° Up to the minute SOHO Imagery at ESA and NASA

° SOHO resources, SpaceRef Directory

° SOHO Shuts Down Again, SpaceRef

° Planetary Alignments in 2000, Griffith Observatory