STARWADERS Portable Solar System Model
v1-20718
Page
14
4.6
Early Evening Planet Positions
The planet positions used in these instructions are those of the 6
th
of
September 2009.
With the model orientated so that it is parallel to the real Solar
System, it now is roughly a miniature Solar System. In the diagram,
when the Earth observer looks to the West along the horizon, the
Sun has dipped below the horizon. Looking to the East, Jupiter has
just risen. Uranus will rise soon and Neptune is about 20° above that
horizon. As the horizon swivels clockwise, Mercury is heading to set
in the West.
It is quite obvious that Mars, Saturn and Venus are on the far side of
the Earth where they cannot be seen.
We can now swivel the horizon pointer clockwise – mimicking Earth’s
rotation - to see where the planets will be above the horizon as the
night progresses.
