Parade of Planets Around Northwest, Along Washington, Oregon Coastlines

Published 12/23/24 at 6:25 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Bandon, Oregon) – Planet parades happen every year, but right now – December through February – there's quite a few of them. Some of them are dwarf worlds or at the edges of our system and can't be seen with the naked eye, but there's a decent helping of our viewable neighbors as well. Either way, if you're thinking of taking your astro photo gear to the Washington coast or Oregon coast, clear nights out here are nothing short of...well....heavenly. (Above: Cannon Beach at night - Oregon Coast Beach Connection)

For those floating around their beachside Jacuzzis in areas like Westport, Seaside, Bandon, Oceanside or Lincoln City, there's plenty to stargaze at.

According to Jim Todd of Portland's OMSI, there are technically six planets in the sky from December through March, along with three dwarf planets.

The three most prominent right now into January are Venus, Saturn and Jupiter. Later in the morning, Mars shows up – and it is a lovely shade of red up there in the black (as they called it in one famed sci-fi show).

“The planet Venus (-4 mag) will be the brightest, then Saturn (+1.5 mag), Jupiter (-2.78 mag), and then 4 hours later Mars (-0.95 mag),” Todd said. “These are easily visible to the human eye.”

He adds they're even more stunning with a telescope, however.

Todd provided the graphic of the planets you can see after sunset in December and January.

If you're heading to Manzanita on Oregon's north coast, don't be surprised to see this at night from the Neahkahnie overlooks.

For those with a telescope – in areas like Tacoma, Spokane, Ashland or Salem – the nonvisible planets and dwarf worlds are Pluto* (+14 mag), Ceres* (+8.56), Neptune (+7.88 mag), Eris* (+18 mag) and Uranus (+5.6 mag).

“[They] are very faint which requires a good, detailed map, and a large telescope to view under very dark sky,” Todd said.

The larger planets will get visually drowned out a little next month.

“From January 1 through 12, the waxing moon will swing by the evening planets,” Todd said. “Will reach full moon on January 13.”

Todd said as planets continue moving around our solar system, they will slowly drop out of the night skies.

However, some things to note:

“Mars will reach opposition on January 15. And it will be a nightly presence until early August,” Todd said. “The dwarf planet Pluto will drop out of the evening sky in January. It will be at solar conjunction on January 21.”

Photo Manuela Durson - see Manuela Durson Fine Arts

At dark spots like Bandon, the rest of the Milky Way galaxy really comes out. Another Oregon coast and Washington coast night photography hint: when beaches freeze at night they get an interesting glisten. It's also kind of a fun surprise to encounter crunchy sand – if you've never experienced it before.

By mid February, Saturn descends into the sunset, Todd said. It reaches solar conjunction on March 12. However, if you can peer at it with a telescope on March 23 you'll see Saturn's ring plane crossing that night – meaning its edges are seen as a flat line from our point of view.

Also happening:
· The dwarf planet Ceres is at solar conjunction on February 14.
· In March, Neptune disappears next followed by Mercury and Venus.
· Uranus will leave the evening sky in April while Jupiter stays around every evening until the end of May. The dwarf planet Eris will be at solar conjunction on April 14.

We've been getting lucky this year, Todd said. “Planet parades usually happen each year, but some years are more or less than others.”

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