Zero to Hero Stargazing: Basic Astronomy - The Planets

Novice stargazers need to know how the planets move across they sky and where to look to find them. Planets do not follow the same easy rules as stars. That's why the ancient Greeks called them 'Wanderers'.

This course focuses on the five planets you can see with your eyes:

Mercury

Venus

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

The Sun, Moon, and other stars have predictable paths across the sky. Planets break all the rules.

This is a beginner level no-telescopes required astronomy course that teaches you how planets visible to the naked eye move across the sky. We’ll focus an entire course on just Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

You'll learn why the 'inner' planets follow different rules than the 'outer' planets. You'll also learn how the planets got their names. This is a great introductory astronomy course for beginners and amateurs.

This unique course looks at the planets from the perspective of a person standing on the ground. We make it as easy as possible to learn astronomy.

How do we make it easy?

First, we'll explore how our Sun and stars move across the sky.

Then, we'll talk about the rules 'inner' planets follow.

After that we'll go through the outer planets.

Lastly, you'll learn about where to look in the sky to find planets, and about what free apps that you can use to plan your planet watching.

What you'll learn is that the planets share similar rules to each other, but each is different. Understanding how the planets move is a key first step to understanding the rest of the solar and the cosmos beyond.

There’s a reason why our ancient ancestors worshiped planets as Gods. Find out inside.