Posted on 03/01/2023 7:57:01 AM PST by shadowlands1960
On March 1 and 2, Jupiter and Venus will appear side by side in the night sky in an event called a conjunction, which is visible without a telescope or binoculars. On Wednesday (March 1) and Thursday (March 2), two bright planets will appear as if they were about to collide in the night sky.
Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, and Venus, one of the brightest objects in Earth's sky, will come within about half a degree of each other — or roughly one full moon's width apart. For weeks, the two bodies have been inching closer together, building toward a phenomenon called a conjunction, which occurs whenever two objects in the sky — such as moons, planets or stars — appear exceptionally close together.
This phenomenon is, of course, a trick of perspective. The two bright planets are in fact millions of miles apart; only from our point of view on Earth do they appear to butt against each other. Thanks to the orbital patterns of Earth, Jupiter and Venus, conjunctions like this occur once every year or so.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Nice.
Go outside. Look up.
My son called me outside about 50 minutes ago to see it. It was the ideal viewing time for us just after sunset and before the planets went below the horizon. We had great viewing weather with almost clear skies (some high cirrus moving in). Got a GREAT show from our front porch facing west (Bay Area, California on the Peninsula).
The western Santa Cruz Mountains got a good snow on them a few days ago which doesn’t happen very often. The snow was still on Mt. Hamilton (4,265 ft) and surrounding peaks today which was gorgeous, too.
We’ve been clouded over here (N. Sac. Vy) so missed it. Glad you got to see it.
Thanks. It was serendipity. My son was driving home just before the best viewing time, got home, came in the house and said “Dad, come take a look!”
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