The Night Sky.
November 30th, 2008 by Jim Clark
Tonight, Jupiter and Venus are in conjunction in the southwestern sky, and it’s neat to behold. The two planets look like bright stars, unless you know the difference (planets do not ‘twinkle’) and the moon is just a sliver in the night.
Between Venus and Jupiter, Venus is the brighter planet and will remain high up on the skyline all throughout the month of December. Jupiter, on the other hand, will be descending on the western horizon in December. Just before the month ends, we’ll be able to see a fleeting Mercury accompany Jupiter at dusk. Venus will still be visible, but somewhere above the conjunction of Jupiter and Mercury.
The full moon on December 12 will be the closest to Earth since 1993, and won’t be coming this close again until 2016.
Click below for a bigger, blurry picture:
(First photo stolen from Betsy Cramer, the second one is mine.)