by Bob Berman
New perspectives are rare. How often do we get a chance to see ourselves or our universe in a truly different way? How often do we get to observe something in space that we think can only be sketched or drawn, something like the planets in their orbits around the sun? This month the night sky offers us a chance to see exactly that.
March is the best time to view this because our part of Earth is tilted just right. Also, Earth's position in orbit opens up the whole solar system at an easy time to watch--within an hour after sunset. To understand what you'll see, imagine Earth spinning around the sun along with the other planets on a flat disk like a Frisbee, with the sun at the center. All the planets, except Pluto, orbit on that same flat plane (within 7 degrees). This means ...
