Re: superhero space navigation

Andrew Plotkin wrote:
You mentioned a cluttered sky, but remember that it's cluttered
because everything is brighter. Planets are brighter too. If you're
inside Earth's orbit, the brightest things visible (after the Sun)
will be Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and maybe Mercury. The Sun's
position against the stars (plus your printout) will tell you
immediately which of those planets might be behind the Sun (or lost in
its glare).

You'll probably be able to distinguish which planet is which by their appearance, especially if you've got a modest telescope. Mars is the reddish one, Venus is the brightest one, Jupiter is the one with four moons, Earth is the bluish one with one moon, and Mercury is whatever's left over near to the sun.

I'm not a stargazer myself but Galileo was able to distinguish Jupiter's moons with a really primitive spyglass so a modern portable will probably be good enough.
.

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