Saturday, November 29, 2008

Reminder: Venus-Jupiter and Moon Conjunction

Just a quick reminder that Venus and Jupiter are converging in the western sky after sunset. They are the two brightest things out there, no telescope necessary. Their closest approach is tomorrow night (Sunday) but based on the forecast for Racine, you might want to check it out tonight.

Sunday night (if you catch a break in the clouds) the Moon will be below the two planets and Monday night the crescent Moon, Venus and Jupiter will be spectacularly close together.

If you have a pair of binoculars, try them. You should be able to see Venus is not a circle, but has phases just like our Moon. You might even catch a moon or two of Jupiter depending on the size of your binoculars.

And to wet your appetite, here is an image from Spaceweather...be sure to go there and check out the other photos!
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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousNovember 29, 2008 at 1:53 PM

    Hey, not quite the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, but I'll go out and take a look. You knows, I just might see a tool bag floating by.
    As always, neat stuff HB!

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  2. AnonymousNovember 29, 2008 at 1:54 PM

    Ahem....make that "You" a "who" and it will make more sense.

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  3. kkditherNovember 29, 2008 at 4:43 PM

    I saw them both last night. Not quite as close together, but still a fantastic site to see. Dec 1 is supposed to be really special.

    Remember Jack Horkheimer with the 5 minute TV show on very late at night? He has a way of explaining things very well to those of us who need it spelled out.. Here is a link to his show on this subject:

    The Three Brightest Night Time Objects Meet In A Terrific Extraterrestrial Trio

    Click on the Nov 24 - Nov 30th show

    I watched this last night. It appears that their server is finicky. It might be down right now.

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  4. drewzepmeisterNovember 29, 2008 at 5:53 PM

    I'm going to try to get pics of this.

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  5. AnonymousNovember 29, 2008 at 7:01 PM

    KK, is that the guy from the U of Fla that sounds like and looks like a 3rd generation munchkin? He's very informative, and I like watching him, but I just can't stop laughing.

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  6. hale-boppNovember 29, 2008 at 7:31 PM

    Yeah, I Jack Horkheimer cracks me up. I remember watching him way back in high school (his show was on right before late night Doctor Who).

    I met him in Florida several times and was at the ceremony where he got an asteroid named after him. He's a little strange in person as well...nice, but strange!

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  7. SERNovember 29, 2008 at 9:26 PM

    Darn, I must have been to late tonight to see it. I looked at 9:24pm and couldn't even find the moon. Maybe to over cast...

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