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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

Venus and Mercury in the West

Explanation: In this twilight skyview, a windmill stands in silent witness to a lovely pairing of planets in the west. The picture was recorded on April 5 from Gallegos del Campo, Zamora, Spain. Venus (left) and Mercury (right) are near their much anticipated conjunction in the early evening sky. But even in the coming days, these two evening stars will remain close in the western sky at sunset . In fact, with brighter Venus as a marker, sky watchers will have an excellent guide for spotting Mercury nearby, a planet often hidden in the Sun's glare .

Date April 7, 2010
Credit Image Credit & Copyright: Manu Arregi Biziola
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.