Mars and Jupiter only 0.38 of a degree apart in the morning sky.
Yes, late. There had been a possibility that this would be a guest post to this weblog, but that hasn’t yet transpired. More later.
Tomorrow morning the planets will be almost as close. Here is part of the picture on a larger scale:
Eric, your pictures are lovely! Thank you.
Anthony, Jack, and others,
We have just emerged from a 5 day stretch of solid clouds and rain, so yesterday was the first morning I had a chance to see the planets and get a snapshot:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/starvergnuegen/22564252526/in/dateposted-public/
Unfortunately, I missed the date of closest approach between Jupiter and Venus :(
Best to all,
Eric
At the risk of boring you and your regular readers, Guy, I humbly (and repetitively) offer up another image from Fredericksburg, Virginia of the morning planetary show, this time Saturday, October 17:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/starvergnuegen/22243273835/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
My camera is due for a cleaning, which necessitates that I use photo-editing to digitally erase unsightly blemishes from the raw images, but I don’t want to take it to the camera shop now for fear that it won’t be back in time to catch the Venus – Jupiter conjunction coming up soon!
Excellent image! Neat technology you must be using.
Not boring at all. Fantastic shot! Keep’em coming.
Jack (and others), I will indeed keep ’em coming ~ here is the view yesterday October 20, as the planets begin to form a straight line:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/starvergnuegen/22156649420/
Question is, as Venus begins to move a little faster than Mars, on what date will the three occupy the area inscribed by the smallest circle?
According to the Astronomical Calendar, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter will appear within a circle of diameter 3.35 degrees, 45 degrees west of the Sun, at 0300 UT 26 October.
SkySafari 4 planetarium software shows the three planets within 5 degrees of one another from 22 Through 29 October, as seen at 0600 PDT in San Francisco.
Anthony,
Thanks very much for the quick answer! The scene on the morning of the 22nd, this time with a bit more scenery in the foreground to make it interesting, shows that Jupiter has just passed between Chi and 59 Leonis, and that the three planets are arrayed such that they make a graceful curving arc with Sigma Leonis to the lower left of Mars:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/starvergnuegen/22194545958/
The show continues ~ I hope our clear morning skies do as well!
Figures the time for this viewing is the same as me being away from my apartment with perfect east viewing conditions for me to be upstate to bring my houseplants in from this season’s first frost . The drive last nite was kinda cool, with crescent moon near Saturn setting, and as I looked into my side mirror, couldn’t help but peripherally notice the handle of the Big Dipper aiming towards Arcturus. Stargazing while driving @ 65 mph is really not recommended.