Something Nice To Look At In These Troubled Times.

[Cuban]

Few people that have had unrestricted views of the South Western skies over the past few weeks will have missed the two bright 'stars' forming a proud : during the early evening, they are not stars but the planets Venus and Jupiter.

Over the next few days they will appear to get closer from our perspective here on Earth and by the weekend will be joined by a new moon making a bright and interesting formation. Link for image/map.

Good seeing.

[sassienie]

I am an amateur astronomer and have been viewing the planets for the last 2 weeks.

Amazing sight and well worth a look.

Venus is the brightest object in the night sky. So bright in fact that it can sometimes be seen in daytime.

Jupiter and Venus will begin moving closer so that by Sunday and Monday, they will appear only 2 degrees apart.

Look in the southwestern sky around twilight — no telescope or binoculars needed. The show will even be visible in cities if it's a clear night.

The moon is the brightest, closest and smallest of the three and is 252,000 miles away. Venus, the second brightest, closest and smallest, is 94 million miles away. And big Jupiter is 540 million miles away.

[Richb2004v2]

Thats great. I have a semi-functioning Celestron telescope that I rarely use. I will get it out tonight and take a look.

Thanks.

[Tywais]

I've been watching that also but usually Venus. Will take a closer look for the other. The sky recently in Chiangmai was great, very clear and Venus very visible.

[kmart]

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[Cuban]

Jupiter and Venus will begin moving closer so that by Sunday and Monday, they will appear only 2 degrees apart.

And for those watching in black and white, this means they will appear very close together, to the point that you could blot them out with your thumb on an out-streached arm.

The crecent new moon will be interesting, the sun crossing the craters, valleys and mountains.

Not sure on the current phase of venus, long time since I tried a naked eye 'guess' of the phase - I might try it tonight and report back - no cheating.

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....and to supplement the post below, Distant Suns for the Windows PC, iPhone etc..

Edited November 26, 2008 by Cuban

[Crushdepth]

If you have a linux-based computer its worth downloading 'Stellarium' - tell it where you are and it will display the current position of the stars and planets in the sky, constellations, you name it. You can search for particular stars or whatever. Beautiful programme and very useful if you're into that kind of thing.

[Richb2004v2]

If you have a linux-based computer its worth downloading 'Stellarium' - tell it where you are and it will display the current position of the stars and planets in the sky, constellations, you name it. You can search for particular stars or whatever. Beautiful programme and very useful if you're into that kind of thing.

I have that software on my Linux based laptop. It is very good. I also have 'Starry Night' on my XP laptop, which is even better.

[Tywais]

If you have a linux-based computer its worth downloading 'Stellarium' - tell it where you are and it will display the current position of the stars and planets in the sky, constellations, you name it. You can search for particular stars or whatever. Beautiful programme and very useful if you're into that kind of thing.

I have that software on my Linux based laptop. It is very good. I also have 'Starry Night' on my XP laptop, which is even better.

Will have to look at that. In the meantime, I popped Google Sky up to see the orientation and position of them in time.

[Pomthai]

Stellarium is also available for XP and runs well on Vista as well. Excellent program.

[track61]

I first saw them while having a whiz break around 18:45 maybe 10 days ago. The brightest one (Venus?) had disappeared by my next trip to the side of the house so my wife thought I was influenced by Leo. After a week or so I decided the higher one was venus. The lower one is so bright I thought maybe it was the space station or somehting man made. I've been meaning to ask about them on here but never got to it. Thanks for clearing it up for me. I live in the boonies so they are very bright and a most beautiful sight.

[mgjackson69]

The planets were very nicely on display tonight in Chok Chai, just after dark.

My wife says it is an auspicious time for people to marry.

[Tywais]

The planets were very nicely on display tonight in Chok Chai, just after dark.

Was very nice tonight in Chiangmai. Had the wife come out to look and she was quite surprised how bright they were. "Suay maak" was her response. Using my camera's 12x optical then adding the 4x digital zoom brought the brightest one nicely into the viewfinder. Next time will use a tripod and see if a shot will actually come out without looking like a smudge in the middle of the photo.

[pete_r]

Moon, Venus and Jupiter are beautiful right now in Bangkok. Lots of people in the street watching.