Tuesday, December 2, 2008

A Bright Night Sky

Last night I couldn't help but notice the bright night sky. A crescent moon was out, but there was more than that.

Below it were two bright objects. My first photo was a little overexposed, but I've included it here so you can see the other two objects well--Venus is on the bottom and Jupiter is to the right.

Finally I have a somewhat decent photo. I need some practice with astrophotography (Bobby, help!). Our moon is only 252,000 miles away. Venus is 94 million miles away, and although it is a lot smaller than Jupiter it appears brighter due to its closeness. Jupiter is 540 million miles away. Although this grouping isn't considered a major astronomical event, I still think it's pretty cool.

5 comments:

I Am Woody said...

I was wanting to see the grouping as well but it was cloudy here. So, thanks for braving the cold night air to get those photos!

Anonymous said...

Did you finish NaNoWriMo?

flatbow said...

I had read that the moon, Venus, and Jupiter would be making a frowning face. Your last photo captures that perfectly! Just rotate it so the moon is at the bottom of the composition and the planets make the eyes.

It was way to cold and snow was falling last night, so I didn't venture out.

Caroline said...

Beautiful! I wish I had seen it in person. Will it be there again tonight?

Love the face! But, in these strange times I kinda wish it was smiling.

~C

Desert Survivor said...

Incredible Woody and Flatbow--Sorry you had cloudy skies last night--and good luck with the snow. I think we're getting some coming this way.

Caroline--As I understand it, the planets will still be close together for awhile, but the moon won't be so close to them.

A--And yes, I did finish NaNoWriMo and it feels good to have more free time! My novel now needs a lot of editing to make it readable, but I'm glad I have something to edit.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

blogger templates