Don’t miss the upcoming moon, Venus and Jupiter conjunction
Nov 20, 2019, 2:30 PM
(AP Photo)
Planets come and go in our night skies and some of the motions of the planets create some interesting close encounters.
Get set for an amazing week ahead as the bright planet Venus – fresh out of the glare of the sun – conjuncts with the mighty planet Jupiter!
The actual definition of an astronomical conjunction occurs when two astronomical objects have the same rights ascension (similar to the same longitude on Earth) or have the same ecliptic longitude.
Having said that, planets can come very close together in our night sky.
That event will occur for both planets beginning Friday, low in the southwestern sky some 20 minutes after sunset.
Venus is the brighter of the two objects and Jupiter is the object above it.
With a clear sky, look for the motion of both Venus and Jupiter over the next few evenings.
The two planets will be closest Sunday evening as they converge within 1.4 degrees of each other.
This is a grand conjunction of the two brightest planets in our solar system.
At that time, Venus will be some 138,000,000 miles from Earth, while Jupiter will be nearly 563,000,000 miles from Earth.
Even though they appear very close together in the sky, they are at vast distances from your eyes!
But wait! The show gets even better as the thin crescent moon will appear with this duet Thanksgiving night, Nov. 28.
All three objects will be within 4.3 degrees of each other.
This will be a great time to get out the smartphone or other digital camera and record the event.
Here is what the event will look like.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
To print your own monthly star chart, click here.
To view satellites/dates/times of passage, click here.
Listen to the Dr. Sky Show on KTAR News 92.3 FM every Saturday morning at 3 a.m.