Tonight, Monday Dec 1st, at sunset we should see an amazing 'great conjunction', of the crescent Moon, Venus, and Jupiter. Sadly, as this conjunction has been forming over the last few weeks, we've been hit with some bad weather here in the Northeast (I've only gotten a good look at Venus and Jupiter 3x in the last two weeks). Hopefully it will be clear tonight.
From SpaceWeather.com:
...When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look south. Beaming through the twilight is one of the prettiest things you'll ever see--a tight three-way conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon. The event is visible from all parts of the world, even from light-polluted cities. People in New York and Hong Kong will see it just as clearly as astronomers watching from remote mountaintops. Only cloudy weather or a midnight sun (sorry Antarctica!) can spoil the show...The great conjunction offers something extra to Europeans. For more than an hour on Monday evening, the crescent Moon will actually eclipse Venus. Astronomers call such an event a "lunar occultation." Venus emerging from the dark edge of the Moon is a remarkably beautiful sight. Sky watchers across Europe will be able to see this happen...
1 comment:
I saw it! Very cool and especially nice to know what the hell I was looking at.
I could still see it earlier this evening but Venus and Jupiter had moved farther from the moon, so not quite the nice triangle shape from Monday.
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