APOD post: Children of the Sun

This unique picture was taken from the satellite SOHO (SOlor Heliospheric Obervatory). Using a coronograph, SOHO blocked the sun's light enabeling it to see the background stars as well as four planets: Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Mercury. The view only spans 15 degrees so its rare to find four planets all within the stated degree. Mercury is rapidly moving left and was earlier transiting across the sun. Jupiter and Venus are so bright despite the blocked sunlight that they caused an overload thus the white streaks across the planets. To the left of Mars there is a binary star- Zubenelgenubi (zoo-BEN-al-je-NEW-bee) and its companion star. The stars are in the constellation Libra and is 77 light years away, and seperated from each other by 730 light hours. Zubenelgeubi was once considered the southern claw of the constellation Scorpius. The Greeks thought that Libra was the claws of the scorpion. The northern claw was the star Zubeneschamali.