Jupiter And Venus Conjunction

[Polar Maritime]

CONVERGING PLANETS: Venus and Jupiter are converging for a remarkably close encounter. On March 12th and 13th the two bright planets will lie scarcely 3^o apart in the western sky at sunset. Marek Nikodem photographed the approach on March 9th:

"Venus and Jupiter glitter so clearly, they are like beautiful diamonds in the sky," says Nikodem. "It is an amazing and unique view."

As the distance between them shrinks, Venus and Jupiter can become physiologically mesmerizing, according to NASA. Look for them before the sky fades completely black. The two planets surrounded by twilight blue is a beautiful sight indeed. [Sky maps:

March 12, 13]

more images:

from Gary A. Becker of Coopersburg, PA; from Chris Cook at Mt. Wilson Observatory, California; from Stefano De Rosa of Turin (Italy); from Kat of Northeast Philadelphia, PA; from Joel Linao of Mirdiff, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; from Stefano De Rosa of Turin (Italy);

[Evening thunder]

The Met Office were going for cloudy tonight but it's clear with only a few clouds in the distance.. they're automated rubbish.

Yeah I'm beginning to think that. I used to think they were decent but I can't see why they can't be updated with human input at times, as the BBC website location forecasts seem to reflect them and there must be millions that check those..

Never known the Met Office to be so poor.

Went for cloudy all last week, and it turned out to be sunny daily!

I usually think their forecasts are quite good, but I have noticed they have been over-doing cloud recently too on their symbol maps. Sometimes just changing to more sunny forecasts a day or two before as has happened.. they now have a 'chief forecasters view' for Monday though

Anyway don't want to take this thread more off topic lol

Providing that we do get enough clear spells here, I must remember to go out on planet watch some of these nights!

[skidders]

They look really good tonight along with Mars with a really clear sky here in Bristol. I didn't manage to see Mercury but last night did see Saturn close to the moon when it rose. I will check that out again tonight.

[BornFromTheVoid]

Cloudy in Cork tonight

[Roger J Smith]

It should be noted that while the minimum separation of Venus and Jupiter occurs today, Venus is currently moving north as well as west (relative to Jupiter especially) and their conjunction in right ascension is actually at 11h on Thursday. In plain English, what you would notice by comparing nightly views is that Jupiter is sinking slowly towards the sun while Venus is now attaining its maximum separation and gliding past Jupiter both above and to the left during this week. By the time Venus rounds the curve for its June 6th transit of the Sun, Jupiter will have moved behind the Sun and into the morning sky. So this sets up a second near-conjunction in July although Venus will never quite catch up to Jupiter's position as it swings around to the east and into the morning sky. Just before that would occur, the elongation begins to reduce again and Venus is pulled away from Jupiter, but for a while in mid-July they will be just about as close as this week (although quite low in the southeast around 0300-0400h).

[4wd]

Is this technically a 'true' conjunction?

They only appear close to each other rather than actually conjoined.

It must be a very rare event for two bright planets to truly conjoin - i.e. appear as one brigheter star.

In past times such an event would have disturbed many given that observers would not really understand what was going on.

[Weather-history]

Clear skies here to view the two planets close together.

I can't remember the next occasion, sometime in the 2nd half of this century but planets can occult other planets, its very rare but has happened.

[Methuselah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-17324826

A short item from BBC news detailing when 5 planets - Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn - can be seen during the course of an evening at the moment.

Aye. I saw four of them on Sunday night. Alas, it's been overcast eversince! :cray:

[skidders]

Foggy again here.........................same as last night!

[Backtrack]

Clear here. Saw them, but they don't seem that close to me.

[WaitingForMackerel]

I am so gutted at the moment.

Its been foggy for most of the last week

[Cookie]

seen it tonight!

[Andy Bown]

Wonderful evening to view Venus and Jupiter after several foggy days. And Mars is clearly visible too!

[Methuselah]

Seen them all, tonight...

[Polar Maritime]

SUNSET SKY SHOW, AGAIN: A month ago, Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon aligned beautifully for evening sky watchers around the world. Tonight it's happening again. On March 25th and 26th, the trio will appear side by side in the western sky at sunset. Marek Nikodem photographed the Moon making a beeline for the planets over Szubin, Poland, on March 24th:

Observing tip: Try catching them before the sky fades completely black. Bright planets are extra-beautiful when they are framed by twilight blue. Sky maps:

March 25, March 26.

more images:

from Toke Brødsgaard of Nuuk, Greenland; from Evan Ludes of Omaha, Nebraska; from Mara Reed of Wall, South Dakota; from Jim Tegerdine of Marysville, Washington; from Dr. Fritz Helmut Hemmerich of Tenerife, Canary Islands; from Stefano De Rosa of Avigliana, Italy; from Adrian New of San Antonio, Texas

[Polar Maritime]

CELESTIAL TRIANGLE: They're at it again. Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon are in conjunction, forming a bright triangle in the sunset sky. On Sunday evening, March 25th, Alexandre Croisier photographed the trio from the Pointe of Dinan in Brittany, France:

"They are easy to see with the naked eye," says Croisier, "and they look great through a telescope, too."

The triangle will appear again on Monday evening, March 26th, although the vertices will be shifted as the Moon glides from Jupiter to Venus. Observing tip: Look before the sky fades completely black. Bright planets are extra-beautiful when they are framed by twilight blue. Sky maps:

March 25, March 26.

more images:

from Petr Horálek at Lichnice castle, Podhradi, Czech republic; from Sylvain Weiller of Saint Rémy lès Chevreuse, France; from M. Raşid Tuğral of Eymir Gölü, Ankara, Turkiye; from Piotr Potepa of Torun, Poland; from Martin McKenna of White Park Bay Beach, Antrim Coast, N. Ireland; from Stefano De Rosa of Turin (Italy); from P-M Hedén of Waldemars Cape, Stockholm Sweden; from Monika Landy-Gyebnar of Paloznak, Hungary; from Roger Schneider of Brugg Switzerland; from Szymon Seweryn of Cracow, Poland; from Alan C Tough of Elgin, Moray, Scotland; from Christophe Stolz of Köniz, Switzerland; from Stephan Brügger of Lübeck, Germany

[Andy Bown]

Thanks for the info Polar Maritime!

They looked superb yesterday evening before dark and when I looked out first it was almost 100% daylight still, with us also having a pink sunset due to a lot of Cirrus cloud which made for a very atmospheric evening.

Then once it was dark and they were all lower in the sky the shadow of the rest of the moon was also visible!

Roll on this evening.

[Polar Maritime]

Yes conditions are perfect again tonight, I best go and polish my lenses

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Here's one of the Moon and Venus I took this evening and one I took last night of the Moon, Jupiter and Venus -

[4wd]

I also tried Moon + Venus, it's so clear tonight - yours is better though.

I think mines not quite in focus actually.

[Stargazer]

Here are a couple of pictures I took last week in Egypt - one showing the moon, Venus and Jupiter together and the other the moon and Venus alongside Luxor Temple the following evening.

[Snowyowl9]

http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=John-Chumack-Venus_M45_040412_ChumackLRweb2_1333602488.jpg

Venus and the seven sisters 2 of the first celestrial objects I noticed when I was very young.