Hobbies And Interests
Jupiter, Saturn
Jupiter appears as a tiny dot surrounded by four tiny bright dots that are the Galilean moons, or the satellites discovered by Galileo in January 1610. These are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. All of them are bigger than Earth's moon and Ganymede is bigger than the planet Mercury, which is so small and close to the sun that it can be seen briefly after sunset or before sunrise. A telescope might resolve more of Jupiter's satellites. Saturn appears as a dun-colored spot with what looks like handles. These, of course, are its famous rings.
Uranus and Neptune
Uranus and Neptune appear as tiny greenish or bluish spots in telescopes or binoculars. They're that color because of the methane in their atmosphere. Though all of them have moons, it's very hard to see the moons with the naked eye.
Mars
Mars is distinctive because of its red color. Over a period of months Mars' journey through the sky seems to reverse itself. The astronomer Copernicus explained this retrograde motion as a trick of perspective. It happens when the Earth passes Mars as both planets orbit the sun -- of course Mars doesn't really travel backwards.
Venus
Venus shines so brilliantly that it's known as the morning or evening star, depending on when it rises. The planet also has phases. Mercury also has phases, but they're quite hard to see. Once in a while Venus passes directly in front of the sun. This is called a transit. The planet looks like a black spot passing across the sun. It should not, however, be viewed directly. The next transit of Venus will be June 5 to 6, 2012.
Pluto
If you still think of Pluto as a planet, it's much too faint to be seen with a small telescope or binoculars -- it can't be seen at all with the naked eye. A larger telescope would see Pluto as a dot, not quite round, in the night sky.