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Jupiter And Venus

March 12, 2012 by · Comments Off on Jupiter And Venus 

Jupiter And Venus, Astrophotographer John Green caught the moon, Venus and Jupiter over Mooresville, N.C., last week.John Green & The ULAO Project, Venus and Jupiter have been dancing toward each other in the night sky for months, and they’ll finally come together this week in a dazzling show for skywatchers.

Beginning tonight (March 12), the two brightest planets in the sky will be so close together that you’ll be able to block both of them out with a few fingers held at arm’s length. The celestial action peaks Thursday (March 15), when Venus and Jupiter line up in what’s known as a planetary conjunction.

Venus-Jupiter conjunctions are fairly special events, occurring roughly every 13 months. And this one should be the best conjunction for several years to come for viewers in the Northern Hemisphere, experts say, because the two planets will be visible for so long in the evening sky. At mid-northern latitudes on Thursday, the pair should blaze bright over the western horizon for about four hours after sunset.

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