• Venus, Saturn and Mercury are all in the predawn sky in early December 2012, but not exactly in the way that a

widely circulated image on the Internet shows them. Instead, on December 3, 2012, they'll look like the chart at right,

as seen from the site of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. Will Mercury, Venus and Saturn be close together in the predawn sky in early December? Yes. Does this configuration happen only every 2,737 years? Well, we're not sure what's meant by that. The planets appear near each other all the time - constantly - as seen from Earth's vantage point, as they and we orbit the sun. Mercury, Venus and Saturn were together in the sky last in 2005.
• Will Mercury, Venus and Saturn appear as this photo shows, over the Egyptian pyramids? No. Not sure how this planet-pyramid story started circulating, but it's possible someone noticed (or searched for) a true sky event in December 2012 (peak month of 2012 doomsday hype) and then manufac

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