Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon

Parent Cafe
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<p>If you haven’t noticed it yet, head outside and check out the confluence of Jupiter, Venus, and the moon. It’s a pretty cool sight!</p>

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<p>^^“Location: San Diego area”.
Sigh. I told my H who wanted to buy a telescope that it would be the most useless item in our house. Our location: north of Seattle.</p>

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<p>Its great!!! Thanks for the reminder!!!</p>

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<p>Just stepped outside but it’s too foggy :(</p>

<p>This is the last time before Nov. 18, 2052 that the moon, Venus and Jupiter will be this close together.</p>

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<p>^^ Oh well, it gives you something to look forward to.</p>

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<p>Too overcast in PA, but I did see the 2 planets lined up a couple of nights ago.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://i140.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/r18/MarkandGracie/c1.jpg[/url]”>http://i140.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/r18/MarkandGracie/c1.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>took the pics, went out for another look an hour later… and they were gone!!!</p>

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<p>Thanks for the pic. I kind of looks like a backwards Turkish flag or one from the region.</p>

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<p>So that’s what they were!!! DH and I were wondering…saw them a few days ago two nights in a row. I knew they had to be planets but didn’t know which ones.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the pics. I saw venus and jupiter on a drive home but not with the moon.</p>

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<p>We had a clear sky early last evening and we saw them all.</p>

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<p>It was so gorgeous … the sky was totally black, no clouds at all. I walked over to the car dealer next door before we closed and saw the sky. Then went back to the shop and <em>ordered</em> my staff outside to see the sky. They thought I had gone totally bonkers on them – but understood immediately upon looking up!</p>

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<p>Beautiful clear night in Philly tonight and the sky is amazing.Thanks for the reminder to look beyond.</p>

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<p>I noticed it last night while walking to a friends house to play mah jjong (no, I’m not an old Jewish lady from Miami Beach!!!) I actually stopped in the middle of the road to admire the view - totally awesome!</p>

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<p>I was able to see them yesterday at about 5:30 p.m. here in Maryland.</p>

<p>It’s cool. You would think that the two planets are traveling through the sky somehow linked to the moon.</p>

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<p>I hadn’t heard about this in advance and was taken by surprise when I pulled out of my driveway at 5:30 and turned into the street only to find myself directly facing an amazing and eerie sight. (The photos don’t do it justice–Venus and Jupiter were so incredibly large and bright, brighter than any star I’ve ever seen, and the rest of the sky was solidly black, so the strange trio just dominated one’s vision.) I actually hit the brakes and sat there slack-jawed. As a longtime sci-fi fan, my first reaction was that I was seeing some other planet’s night sky, my second that something had gone terribly awry with night sky as I had known it all my life! D in the passenger seat was totally blase, of course. I hope she appreciates it more when she’s in her sixties!</p>

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<p>Apologies for sharing my ignorance re: astronomy …</p>

<p>For how long will this last?</p>

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<p>For those who didn’t see it, or even those who did, Astronomy Picture of the Day has an adorable picture today. [APOD:</a> 2008 December 3 - A Happy Sky Over Los Angeles](<a href=“http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081203.html]APOD:”>APOD: 2008 December 3 - A Happy Sky Over Los Angeles)</p>

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<p>I came home from work Monday and looked up and saw it–though I’d read about it, I was still floored by how beautiful the sight was. I came into the house exclaiming to H (amateur astronomer) and as I was doing so, phone rang–it was S who works outside, calling also to remark on the sight and check on what planets it was.</p>

<p>I should know how long it will last, but offhand, I can just say it’s a matter of days, as the moon’s position changes in the sky (planets changing too, but m uch more slowly.)</p>

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<p>When I first observed it last Sunday it had kind of a 3D effect where one of the planets appeared closer than the other rather than just a point of light. Of course, they actually are at different distances but the effect isn’t something that’s usually noticable.</p>

<p>I don’t know how long the confluence effect will last. I checked it out again last night and the two planets were further from the moon in the arc of sky.</p>

<p>btw - If you haven’t done so, now that you should be able to find Jupiter okay, get out your telescope or binoculars and look at Jupiter to see if you can see any of its moons. With a telescope you should be able to see 4 of its moons.</p>