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Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Moon and Planets Over Catalonia
NASA ^ | February 29, 2012 | (see photo credit)

Posted on 02/29/2012 4:19:35 AM PST by SunkenCiv

Explanation: Venus and Jupiter will appear unusually close in the sky over the next month. The planetary conjunction will be easily visible to the unaided eye because Venus will appear brighter than any background star, and Jupiter will be nearly as bright. To see the near-alignment, simply look to the west after sunset. At their closest, on March 15, the two planets will appear only about three degrees apart. The planets will not be significantly closer in space - Venus will just be passing nearly in front of Jupiter as seen from the Earth. In the above image composite taken late last week from Catalonia, Spain, a bright crescent moon appears to the right of Venus, while Jupiter appears near the top of the image. The distant sun-illuminated spheres were photographed behind a sculpture depicting the legendary battle between a warrior and a dragon. A gallery of conjunction images is visible on the Asterisk -- APOD's discussion board. Please feel free to contribute. The next Jupiter-Venus conjunction will occur in May 2013.

February 29, 2012

(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; moon; science
[Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (TWAN)]

1 posted on 02/29/2012 4:19:40 AM PST by SunkenCiv
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To: brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; bigheadfred; KoRn; Grammy; married21; steelyourfaith; Mmogamer; ...

2 posted on 02/29/2012 4:21:16 AM PST by SunkenCiv (FReep this FReepathon!)
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To: SunkenCiv
Saw these with the crescent Moon the other evening. Spectacular.
3 posted on 02/29/2012 4:35:08 AM PST by wolfcreek (‘closed eye’ mentality is the reason for our current reality)
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To: wolfcreek

Me too. I am still worried they are going to crash into each other in the next few nights.


4 posted on 02/29/2012 4:47:51 AM PST by ngat
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