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Look up in the sky at the right moment this weekend and you could see two of the solar system's brightest planets almost touching. Venus and Jupiter will be millions of miles apart, but from Earth they will appear close to colliding. This planetary conjunction happens annually but this year they will appear much closer than usual. The same spectacle won't occur again like this until 2039. Just the naked eye or binoculars should be enough to see it in a clear sky. After Saturday, the two planets will go their separate ways as they drift apart in the coming...

Jupiter, Saturn and Venus have lined up in the evening sky and will continue to be prominent features throughout most of December, but this week, the trio will get a visitor. The easy-to-find planets, paired with the approaching peak of the Geminid meteor shower, make December a great month for evening stargazing. The only caveat is that the weather can be fickle during the long December nights, often offering frosty conditions on nights that are not cloudy. The moon started off the week next to Venus, and as the week progresses, it will continue to move up the chain, passing...

Today's image is a video at link. Explanation: Yes, but have you seen a movie of Jupiter and Saturn's Great Conjunction? The featured time-lapse video was composed from a series of images taken from Thailand and shows the two giant planets as they angularly passed about a tenth of a degree from each other. The first Great Conjunction sequence shows a relative close up over five days with moons and cloud bands easily visible, followed by a second video sequence, zoomed out, over 9 days. Even though Jupiter and Saturn appeared to pass unusually close together on the sky on...

THE GREAT CONJUNCTION OF JUPITER AND SATURN: Want to see something that astronomers have been waiting 800 years to witness? Just step outside at sunset and look southwest. Jupiter and Saturn are having their finest conjunction since the Middle Ages--and they're bright. Bertrand Kulik sends this picture from Paris:"On Dec. 20th, the planets were visible right beside the Eiffel Tower," says Kulik. "It was a magical view!" At closest approach on Dec. 21st, the two planets will lie just 0.1 degrees apart. That’s so close, some people will perceive them as a single brilliant star. Viewed through binoculars or a...

Jupiter and Venus will pair up in the sky on Monday morning, shining brightly together shortly before sunrise. The two planets will appear so close together that they may look like they are just one bright star rather than two planets. This is the closest these two planets will appear all year, an astronomical event known as a conjunction. Venus and Jupiter may appear very close to each other in the morning sky, but they are actually more than 400 million miles away from each other. Venus and Jupiter will rise together about one hour before sunrise in the eastern...

The early morning sky is where the action is this first week of the year. We were out early this Monday morning as skies cleared over Central Florida on our yearly vigil for the Quadrantid meteors. Though only a handful of meteors graced the dawn skies, we were treated to a splendid line-up, including Jupiter, Mars, Spica, Antares, Saturn, Venus, the waning crescent Moon AND a fine binocular view of Comet C/2013 US10 Catalina. ... Venus and Saturn pass just 5' (that’s 1/6th the diameter of the Full Moon) apart on the morning of Saturday, January 9th. The conjunction (sometimes...

When it comes to tomorrow, Christians need to think while watching the Star of Bethlehem which will appear after an absence of roughly 2000 years. Tomorrow (June 30th, 2015) the Star of Bethlehem will be making a return. Will this mean that the signs of the end is beginning to unfold? And what did this sign mean? Is it a time of joy or suffering or both? How could King Herod's own advisors have been unaware of a star so bright that it could have led the wise men to Jerusalem? According to Professor David Weintraub, this may be because...

Sun in the Way Will Affect Mars Missions in April This diagram illustrates the positions of Mars, Earth and the sun during a period that occurs approximately every 26 months, when Mars passes almost directly behind the sun from Earth's perspective. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech March 20, 2013 Mars Missions Status Report PASADENA, Calif. - The positions of the planets next month will mean diminished communications between Earth and NASA's spacecraft at Mars. Mars will be passing almost directly behind the sun, from Earth's perspective. The sun can easily disrupt radio transmissions between the two planets during that near-alignment. To prevent...

Venus and Jupiter, the two normally brightest planets in our sky, are moving closer in skies worldwide, and will group in the most spectacular conjunction of two planets seen in several years at the end of November. The two reach just over 2 degrees apart in our sky on Nov. 29, and are slightly closer on Nov. 30. Until Dec. 1 (when the two planets lie nearly parallel), look for bright, whitish Jupiter in the southwestern sky above brighter Venus. Jupiter and Venus are both highest each evening in evening twilight but lose altitude early, setting in the west-southwest around...

Jupiter and Venus are in conjunction (next to each other in the sky, as viewed from Earth) today. They've swapped positions over the last 24 hours, so Jupiter is slightly above and to the left of Venus in the early morning sky above the eastern horizon. Take a break, drag yourself away from the keyboard and monitor. Toss on a jacket if it's cold out where you live, step outside and enjoy this sight. Mars is also visible a bit higher in the sky.

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. 2002 December 4 Moon, Mars, Venus, and Spica Credit & Copyright: Larry Koehn Explanation: Gliding toward today's total eclipse of the Sun, the crescent Moon has been rising early, just before dawn. And as a prelude to its close solar alignment, the Moon also completed a lovely celestial triangle, closing with bright planets Mars and Venus on the morning of December 1. While the total solar eclipse can...

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. 2002 June 25 Venus and Jupiter Over Belfast Credit: Peter Paice Explanation: Venus and Jupiter appeared to glide right past each other earlier this month. In a slow day-by-day march, Jupiter sank into the sunset horizon while Venus remained high and bright. The conjunction ended the five-planet party visible over the last two months. Jupiter, of course, is much further away from the Earth and Sun than Venus,...

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. 2002 June 19 The Moon & Venus Over Geneva Credit & Copyright: Gregory Giuliani (AstroImagine) Explanation: The Moon, fresh from a biting encounter with the Sun last week, appeared next to threaten Venus. The waxing Moon appeared to glide right past, however, just a few degrees away. Venus, of course, is much further away from the Earth than the Moon, so the passing was really just an angular...