Monday, December 1, 2008

Venus-Jupiter-Moon Smiley Face

A curious alignment brings Venus, Jupiter and crescent Moon together this evening 1 December 2008






































A close up of the three...

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fabulous photo as usual Martin

Love, Linda

Anonymous said...

No way! Was that face in the top right corner really there?

Mish said...

Makes me smile too! :)

Anonymous said...

Whats ur e-mail. I see it straight from bangkok(Its the correct way around)

Anonymous said...

How often does it occur?

Martin Lewicki said...

Happens 36 times between 1990 and 2010 within 5 degree circle. The most recent was a morning event on 4 Feb 2008. The next is an evening event on 14 Feb 2010 when it will be very low in the twilight. Some of them occur three times within a few months like that of Oct 1994 to Jan 1995 due to retrograde motion.
Martin

Saya... said...

Lovely photos.

I snapped some with my camera phone from Kuala Lumpur near my house but Jupiter didn't come up! It was SO clear to the naked eye though. When I charged my digital cam, it was already gone. maybe tomorrow.

How did you get such beautiful pics? I posted yours on my blog with your links. Is it ok?

Thank you.

Martin Lewicki said...

While I used a digital SLR I also took some with a compact digital. Both were set to auto exposure while there still was some twilight.

Martin

Anonymous said...

Thanks! That was awesome, cant believe i didnt know it until a few hours after the 'event'..

Anonymous said...

Hi Martin
Not being an astronomer but an astrologer without my ephemeris on me -Is that close enough for conjunction?

Anonymous said...

its my first time to see a moon like that!!

Martin Lewicki said...

Anonymous, at the time of my images they were within 3.5 degree of each other. They were at their most compact a few hours later at 15:10UT within 2.1 degrees or in terms of the ecliptic (ie astrological) in conjuntion 0.25 degrees orb.

StevoR said...

Great photo Martin. Was enjoying the "smiley in the sky" conjunction last night and pointing it out to friends and family. A fun celestial event.

Reflecting on the worlds involved, its amazing to think how very different these two planets actually are, one the nearest and brightest of planets an Earth-sized (and massed) greenhouse oven wrapped in dense CO2 with rocks near melting point; the other a
cold gas giant that could swallow our globe 300 plus times with an endless hydrogen atmosphere that
grows ever denser until it becomes a fluid and then at unfathomable depths, metallic hydrogen in turn
overlying the mystery of the Jovian core. Both very strange and alien places that test our imaginations and technology to
the limits.

Also to muse that while they seem so close in our skies they are staggeringly far apart in reality with Venus located inside the Earth's orbit and Jupiter about five times further out.

Anonymous said...

The smiley was upright in Manila and very clear in the night sky. It was beautiful!

Nancy Schorr said...

Great photo, thanks! I'm in California and it looked pretty much the same here. thanks again.

Also, you need to join some groups and get some gadgets like Technorati so I can link to you.

Anonymous said...

wow! I live in California, USA and I saw that from over here!!! IT WAS INCREDIBLE!

whywhatwhenwhy said...

i dun get what the fuss is all about. ok, its me... but great photography. i have linked to this entry, thanks!

whall said...

I linked to your post and your pics over at my blog - http://whall.org/blog/2008/12/03/the-celestial-smiley-face/

Great picture!

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