A Challenging Valentine Day Observation...

On Valentine's Day, we will have a nice grouping in the west RIGHT after sunset. It will be challenging to see since the sky will still be brightly lit, but worth giving it a try if you have a clear western horizon. We will have a close grouping of Venus (Godess of love and beauty...appropriate for the day), Jupiter and a very slender crescent Moon. A chart is shown below.

You will look slightly south of west as you can see. This map shows the positions only about 10 minutes after sunset (in Tucson). All three objects are very bright, but you can't delay after sunset if you want a shot at them!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.