Showing posts with label Jupiter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jupiter. Show all posts

Dec 4, 2008

The Moon Dances With Venus

Earlier, -FUPPETS- brought you word of a beautiful celestial grouping in the evening and early night skies.
In some parts of the world this grouping was even more dramatic, with the "dark side" of the Moon occluding the Evening Star, Venus, for a short period of time as both celestial bodies travelled through our Solar System.

In the above image, brought to us by NASA's Astronomy Picture of The Day and captured in Australia, one can see all the details. This is a composite image which is the only way to capture the faint details as well as the "dark side" of the Moon lit up by "earthshine," which is the light reflected off of the earth from the Sun, bounced off of the Moon, and reflected back to Earth.
Venus is super-bright and about to cross behind the circle of the Moon. In the inset image, from France, you can see Venus as it re-appears after crossing behind the Moon (from Earth's vantage point). In the top, right corner of the image you can see Jupiter and if you look closely, you can also see pin-points of light which are some of the Jovian Moons. Amazing!

Dec 2, 2008

Stellar Omens Fuel TEXANS Victory

In a very rare and beautiful display, the planets Venus and Jupiter have sidled up to the crescent Moon, in a pattern that will not repeat until the year 2052. It was a beautiful sight as the sun went down last night and should be so for the coming week. Take the time to go outside and look, for it is a rare and gorgeous thing to see.
It is a rare thing for Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon to be within two degrees of each other. They are so close in the sky that you could put your thumb out and cover all three stellar bodies.


This was taken to mean great tidings for the Houston Texans who played last night in their first ever Monday Night Football appearance. It was a glorious victory over the rival Jacksonville Jaguars.