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Venus, Jupiter and the Moon are gathering for a beautiful
sunset sky show.
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August 26, 2005: Something nice is happening in the
sunset sky. Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets,
are converging, and they're going to be beautifully close
together for the next two weeks.
 Step
outside tonight when the sun goes down and look west. If there
are no trees or buildings in the way, you can't miss Jupiter
and Venus. They look like airplanes, hovering near the horizon
with their lights on full blast. (Venus is the brighter of
the two.) You can see them even from brightly-lit cities.
Right:
There was a similar close encounter between Jupiter and Venus
last November. Pictured here, the two planets shine over Tehran,
Iran. Photo credit: Babak A. Tafreshi
Try
catching the pair just after sundown and just before the first
stars appear. Venus and Jupiter pop into view while the sky
is still twilight-blue. The scene has a special beauty.
When
the sky darkens completely, look to the left of Jupiter for
Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. Although
it's a bright star, Spica is completely outclassed by the
two planets.
Venus
and Jupiter are converging at the noticeable rate of 1o
per day, with closest approach coming on September 1st when
the two will be a little more than 1o apart. (How
much is 1o? Hold your pinky finger at arm's length.
The tip is about 1o wide.)
Above:
A map of the western sky on Sept. 6, 2005. More sky maps:
Aug. 26,
27, 28,
29, 30,
31 and
Sept. 1,
2, 3,
4, 5,
6.
When
planets are so close together, not only do you notice them,
you'll have a hard time taking your eyes off them. They're
spellbinding.
There's
a biological reason for this phenomenon: In the back of your
eye, near the center of the retina, lies a small patch of
tissue called "the fovea" where cones are extra-densely
packed. "Whatever you see with the fovea, you see in
high-definition," explains Stuart Hiroyasu, O.D., of
Bishop, California. "The fovea is critical to reading,
driving, watching television; it has the brain's attention."
The field of view of the fovea is 5o. When two
objects converge to, say, 1o as Venus and Jupiter
will do, they can beam into your fovea simultaneously, signaling
your brain—attention, please!
After
September 1st, the two planets separate, but the show's not
over. On September 6th, with Jupiter and Venus still pleasingly
close together, the slender crescent Moon will leap up from
the sun's glare and join the two planets. Together, they'll
form a compact triangle that will simply knock your socks
off.
Feel
like staring? Do.
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Author: Dr. Tony
Phillips | Production Editor:
Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
| More
Information |
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Sky
maps: Aug.
26, 27,
28,
29,
30,
31
and Sept.
1, 2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
2005.
The
three brightest planets in early evening -- observing
tips from Jack Stargazer.
 Spaceweather.com
-- get the latest space weather forecasts and
daily pictures of the Venus-Jupiter-Moon sky show.
The
fovea is responsible for our central, sharpest vision.
Close encounters between Jupiter
and Venus
happen often enough, every year or so. Some, though,
are better than others. For instance, on June 17, 2
B.C., the pair drew so near -- just 6 arcseconds (0.002
deg.) apart -- that they merged into a single dazzling
point of light. Some scholars believe that was the Star
of Bethlehem mentioned in the Bible.
NASA's
Vision for Space Exploration |
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