I have been a bit obsessed with Venus and Jupiter of late. I have been watching the two of them now since late January, when Jupiter was above the eastern, and Venus above the western horizons just after sunset. Since then Venus has been moving retrograde, that is, every night it has been appearing to be higher in the sky and closer to the east. At the same time, Jupiter has been moving closer to west at approximately the same rate as the stars around it do through the passage of time. Venus will discontinue its retrograde motion on 7/6 and slowly start heading back down towards the Sun; it will reach inferior conjunction with Sun 15/8. Jupiter and Venus will be together (in our sky) 1/7. If you draw a 60/30 right angle triangle, with the hypotenuse between the Earth and the Sun, Venus would be at the right angle with the 30° being at Earth. (These angles are very approximate) Jupiter, on the other hand is almost completely on the other side of Sun. This makes it a huge distance away and it is still very bright. Venus and Jupiter tonight at home.
Venus and Jupiter 2015
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wow, that is stunning, Mick
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Thanks Markus. Have a look yourself tonight. Just after sunset in your south western sky. If it’s cloudy, there still plenty of other nights.
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I remember three or four year ago we could see Jupiter for many nights from our bed. Really wonderful.
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btw, the most stunning sky at night I saw at the Karijini NP/Tom Price WA. We spend there two nights. This sky was priceless!!! No lights, only stars.
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The outback sky on a moonless night is a wonder to behold, that’s for sure. Everything is blazing, not just the 5 visible planets and main stars. I am glad you have experienced this.
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I was traveling with a canadian and two danish guys which I met in Perth. It was great. We chatted a lot. But these two nights we just sat there, had a few beers, slept somewhere in this NP… ..no words.. ..just enjoying!
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A beautiful photo and a fine obsession to have.
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That’s a fantastic picture!! The Australian night sky is the most spectacular I have ever seen by far. I remember wishing I had the photography skills to capture it.
Lately, my husband had been obsessed with Saturn which had been visible here in the eastern sky and on an angle that made the rings visible with a telescope or good binoculars. Unfortunately with all our light pollution, visibility was pretty limited in the city.
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Wow! Gilles has inspired me to remind myself as to where Saturn is at the moment. To me, Saturn and Mars are not as impressive as Venus and Jupiter, just viewing naked eye. And Mercury is just like another star; you just have to know where it is. However, looking at Saturn through a telescope is another matter. I’ll be checking charts now.
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I’m toying with the idea of getting Gilles a telescope for his birthday next month. He just loves this stuff.
I asked him again about Saturn and he said that it will be ‘close’ for the next couple of months but apparently it’s peak was last week.
No question Venus and Jupiter are so impressive. Until your post though, I never thought to track their position relative to one another unless they’re close together in the sky.
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It’s six days past opposition, so now is the best time to view as Gilles already knows. I just went outside in the cold morning air to see if I could spot it above the horizon. Too late, its gone; the air’s far too watery here where I live; especially near dawn. I’ll look out for it tonight.
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This photo is stunning!
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Thank you; It’s been so cold and wet here lately that star pics are far from my mind. I look forward to returning to it.
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