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Author Topic:   Spectacular Sky Scene Monday Evening
nattie33
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posted November 30, 2008 04:09 PM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/081128-ns-moon-jupiter-venus.html

SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist
posted: 28 November 2008
10:26 am ET

Every once in a while, something will appear in the night sky that will attract the attention of even those who normally don't bother looking up. It's likely to be that way on Monday evening, Dec. 1.

A slender crescent moon, just 15-percent illuminated, will appear in very close proximity to the two brightest planets in our sky, Venus and Jupiter.

People who are unaware or have no advance notice will almost certainly wonder, as they cast a casual glance toward the moon on that night, what those two "large silvery stars" happen to be? Sometimes, such an occasion brings with it a sudden spike of phone calls to local planetariums, weather offices and even police precincts. Not a few of these calls excitedly inquire about "the UFOs" that are hovering in the vicinity of our natural satellite.

Very bright objects

Venus has adorned the southwestern twilight sky since late August. No other star or planet can come close to matching Venus in brilliance. During World War II, aircraft spotters sometimes mistook Venus for an enemy airplane. There were even cases in which Venus drew antiaircraft fire.

This winter, Venus is the unrivaled evening star that will soar from excellent to magnificent prominence in the southwest at nightfall. The interval by which it follows the Sun will increase from nearly three hours on Dec. 1 to almost four hours by Jan. 1. It's probably the first "star" you'll see coming out after sunset. In fact, if the air is very clear and the sky a good, deep blue, try looking for Venus shortly before sunset.

Jupiter starts December just above Venus and is moving in the opposite direction, dropping progressively lower each evening. By month's end Jupiter meets up with another planet – Mercury – but by then Jupiter is also descending deep into the glow of sunset. In January, Jupiter will be too close to the Sun to see; it's in conjunction with the Sun on Jan. 24.

Earthlit ball

A very close conjunction of the crescent moon and a bright star or planet can be an awe-inspiring naked-eye spectacle. The English poet, critic and philosopher, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) used just such a celestial sight as an ominous portent in his epic, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." In addition, there are juxtaposed crescent moon and star symbols that have appeared on the flags of many nations, including Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia, Algeria, Mauritania, and Tunisia.

Also on Monday evening, you may be able to see the full globe of the moon, its darkened portion glowing with a bluish-gray hue interposed between the sunlit crescent and not much darker sky. This vision is sometimes called "the old moon in the young moon's arms." Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was the first to recognize it as what we now call "earthshine."

As seen from the moon, the Earth would loom in the sky some 3.7 times larger than the moon does for us. In addition, the land masses, the oceans and clouds make the Earth a far better reflector of sunlight as compared to the moon. In fact, the Earth's reflectivity varies as clouds, which appear far more brilliant than the land and seas, cover greater or lesser parts of the visible hemisphere. The result is that the Earth shines between 45 and 100 times more brightly than the moon.

The Earth also goes through phases, just as the moon does for us, although they are opposite from what we see from Earth. The term for this is called "complementary phases." On Nov. 27, for example, there was a new moon for us, but as seen from the surface of the moon that day, there appeared in the lunar sky a brilliant full Earth. A few nights later, as the sliver of a crescent moon begins to appear in our western twilight sky, its entire globe may be glimpsed.

Sunlight is responsible for the slender crescent, yet the remainder of the moon appears to shine with a dim blush-gray tone. That part is not receiving sunlight, but shines by virtue of reflected earthlight: the nearly full Earth illuminating the otherwise dark lunar landscape. So earthshine is really sunlight which is reflected off Earth to the moon and then reflected back to Earth.

Keeping it all in perspective

Keep in mind that this head-turning display of three celestial objects crowded together will be merely an illusion of perspective: the moon will be only about 251,400 miles (403,900 km) from Earth, while Venus is nearly 371 times farther away, at 93.2 million miles (149.67 million km). Meanwhile, Jupiter is almost 2,150 times farther away than our natural satellite at 540.3 million miles (869.0 million km).

Those using binoculars or a small telescope will certainly enjoy the almost three-dimensional aspect of the moon, but Venus will be rather disappointing appearing only as a brilliant blob of light, for right now, it's a small, featureless gibbous disk. That will change in the coming weeks, however, as Venus approaches Earth and the angle it makes between us and the Sun allows it to evolve into a "half-moon" phase in mid January, and a lovely crescent phase of its own during the latter part of February and March.

Jupiter on the other hand is a far more pleasing sight with its relatively large disk, cloud bands and its retinue of bright Galilean satellites. All four will be in view on Monday evening, with Callisto sitting alone on one side of Jupiter, Ganymede, Io and Europa will be on the other side. Io and Europa will in fact, appear very close to each other, separated by only about one-sixth the apparent width of Jupiter.

Venus 'eclipse' for Europe

As beautiful as the view of Venus, Jupiter and the moon will be from North America, an even more spectacular sight awaits those living in parts of Western Europe where the moon will pass in front of Venus.

Astronomers refer to this phenomenon as an "occultation," taken from the Latin word occultÄre, which means "to conceal." This eye-catching sight will be visible in complete darkness across much of Eastern Europe. Farther west, Venus will disappear behind the dark part of the moon either during evening twilight or just before the Sun sets. When Venus emerges, it will look like a brightening jewel on the slender lunar crescent. For virtually all of Europe, the Sun will have set by then, the exception being southern Portugal (including Lisbon).

Such favorable circumstances are quite rare for any given location. For example, the last time London was treated to such a favorably placed Venus occultation such was back on October 7, 1961. And after 2008, there will not be another similarly favorable Venus occultation for the United Kingdom until January 10, 2032. So be sure to make the most of this upcoming opportunity.


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katatonic
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posted November 30, 2008 05:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for katatonic     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
i have been watching these two for the past 2 nights, one sitting right above the other as bright as bright can be. should be shiveringly marvelous with the moon in there too...and its all very close to my jupiter return...

any insights into astrological meanings around such an event??

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nattie33
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posted November 30, 2008 11:50 PM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Im not an astrologer..But it sounds good to me. Venus is Love Jupiter is Luck and Expansion..Both so close who knows what might happen and the moon is on the increase.

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MyVirgoMask
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posted December 01, 2008 02:04 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for MyVirgoMask     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Ah, so that's what it is
I've been looking at these two for several nights and have been wondering about that. Jupiter and Venus, eh? Sounds good.
Possibly indulgent, but too much of a good thing might be nice right about now

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Randall
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posted December 01, 2008 09:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
TEST

------------------
"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." Charles Schultz

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Node
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posted December 01, 2008 10:05 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Node     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

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Mannu
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posted December 01, 2008 10:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Mannu     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks Nattie thanks Node.
So pretty

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PeaceAngel
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posted December 01, 2008 10:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for PeaceAngel     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
My son told me to come and have a look at the smilie face in the sky last night. I love that he saw it that way. It was awesome.

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Lavlee
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posted December 01, 2008 10:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Lavlee     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
.

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MoonPixie
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posted December 01, 2008 10:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for MoonPixie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
it makes me really excited that people are starting to look up at the stars more again, but i wish i could discuss things further with people and tell them that planetary "conjunctions" occur all the time!

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lechien
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posted December 02, 2008 03:35 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for lechien     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
i'm hoping that this means i'm more empowered than usual, since Jupiter is my chart ruler and Venus is in my first house! well, i guess the closest moment is over now but it should have the effect before and after for a bit. at this moment it's already 1 degree apart though. err, maybe i gotta run out and do what i can while this positive transit lasts!

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nattie33
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posted December 02, 2008 10:58 AM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I hope this post makes it in this time i tried twice yesterday..I hope it's a good sign for us all. and a good start for the month of december

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AcousticGod
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posted December 02, 2008 11:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for AcousticGod     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I didn't get to see it last night, but they're still fairly close tonight so I was able to see them hanging out.

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koiflower
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posted December 03, 2008 01:27 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for koiflower     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I took a photo of it....

It was so beautiful in reality!!

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lechien
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posted December 03, 2008 02:36 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for lechien     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
a big smiley in the sky! cute.

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Node
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posted December 03, 2008 10:15 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Node     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
    photo credits- Martins-skywalk blogspot Adelaide
    I cannot see enough of this.
....
"you may also be able to see a phenomenon of "Earthshine," in which a ghostly image of the full moon appears inside the bright horns of the crescent. It is also known as "the da Vinci glow" because Leonardo da Vinci was the first person to explain it: Sunlight reflected by the Earth then reflects off the moon, Phillips said, casting a sheen of light across the dark lunar terrain."

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katatonic
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posted December 03, 2008 12:07 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for katatonic     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
it looks like the moon is giving birth, with venus and jupiter attending...gorgeous!~thanks for these pictures!

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aquaspryt69
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posted December 05, 2008 11:08 AM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
As you all will see I started another thread about this before I saw this one. Oops! I'd love to be in E Europe to see this.

Great pictures Node. Though, I guess due to where I live, Venus, Jupiter and the Moon were lined up.

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