Skywatchers: Venus-Jupiter-Moon

[markksr]

Spectacular Close Encounter: Venus-Jupiter-Moon
Western Evening Sky, 1 December 2008

Soon after sunset on Monday 1 December 2008, the world will be treated to a grand spectacle in the western sky. The brightest planet in the sky, Venus, will have a close encounter with the second brightest planet, Jupiter, as viewed from Earth. The two planets will appear just 2.0° apart at their closest at 9h UT on 1 December.

Joining in on the tight Venus-Jupiter formation will be the young crescent Moon, which together with its Earthshine, will produce a wonderful celestial display that will be visible all around the world. Try not to miss it!

The apparent relative positions of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon will vary somewhat depending upon where people view the event on the Earth. The variations are due to longitude differences (time) and the effect of parallax (latitude) on the apparent position of the Moon. The sky maps below show the relative position of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon as they will appear from a number of locations around the world.

Folk in Australia will get to see a "smiley face" of sorts. Near Lusaka, Zambia the crescent Moon will bisect the two planets in a truly stunning display. In western parts of Europe (eg., Rome) Venus will be occulted by the Moon and it reappears about 1 hour later on the Moon's bright limb (eg., London).

Best wishes and clear skies!

(above quoted from http://skymaps.com/events/20081201/index.html)


I tried to take some pics, but they came out terrible, maybe I'll try again later.

 

[Thomason]

Thanks for the tip, markksr. I just checked it out. Very cool.......almost heavenly.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

I was out this evening just before sunset. The crescent moon with a pinpoint Venus were up over the trees in a pale blue cloudless sky. Very clear for an area with so much light pollution, and not even dark yet.

 

[yablanowitz]

I'm a bit hampered by poor equipment and a total lack of talent, but here's what it looks like from southwest Kansas.

 

[Haze]

I had a great view of the moon etc. last night.
It was beautiful just after sun set and became really clear when it darkened up later.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

That's about what I saw!

Check out Astronomy Picture of the Day for November 29, 2008 Chilean Skyscape

Night skies over Chilean mountain top observatories can be dark and clear, with glorious cosmic vistas. In this recent example, the plane of our Milky Way galaxy stretches parallel to the horizon, the galactic center's star clusters, dark dust clouds, and glowing nebulae hovering in the west. Recorded after sunset, the wedge of light extending upward through the scene is Zodiacal light, sunlight scattered by dust along the solar system's ecliptic plane. A faint meteor was also caught in the view, but approaching a conjunction, brilliant Venus and bright Jupiter dominate the skyscape.

I'm carrying this as my desktop background.

 

[markksr]

I'm a bit hampered by poor equipment and a total lack of talent, but here's what it looks like from southwest Kansas.

Not too shabby at all. I also use a borderline antique digital camera and have only the smallest modicum of talent, but alas, my muse was nowhere to be found tonight and my second round of pics were as bad as my first.

Thanks for taking the time to take and post the pictures.

 

[Ming65]

I saw it - the moon and two planets were big and bright in our sky. I took some photos but the win was blowing the tripod around a fair bit so there is a bit of motion blur. I'll post the pics later today.

 

[b.c.molin]

In the Southern Hemisphere is was a cosmic smiley that some were lucky to see, not a frown.

A friend took this photo of it over Old Bar, Australia:

Many folk grinned back at the sky in delight.