Yesterday morning on July 9th, Venus and the fixed star Aldebaran converged to form a striking planet-star pair in the pre-dawn sky. Barely more than a degree of arc — the same ‘degrees’ we mention in astrology — separate the two celestial bodies as Jupiter hovers above them from our perspective.
The planet-star configuration also includes the the Hyades cluster, which Venus just passed through a few mornings ago (not to be confused with the Pleiades, which Venus passed through a couple months ago).
According to NASA.com,
On July 15, a 12% crescent Moon joins the show, forming a bright celestial triangle with Venus and Jupiter. the arms of the crescent cradle a ghostly image of the Full Moon. That’s caused by Earthshine, sunlight reflected from our own planet onto the otherwise dark lunar landscape. A crescent Moon with Earthshine is considered to be one of the prettiest sights in the heavens. A crescent Moon with Earthshine plus Venus and Jupiter — that’s worth waking up for even in the middle of summer vacation.
Or, you can try the ‘stay up all night’ method if, say, you keep finding yourself going to bed at 3 am anyway. What’s another hour or two? Good luck, and send us your photos! Our amazing astro-photographer Anthony Ayiomamitis in Greece is planning to shoot Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon the morning of July 14, and we can’t wait to see what he gets. You can check out his work here.
Thanks for the advice, Amanda! I’ll be sure to take it. Headed out now–will arrive in time for stars tonight! 😀
Early. Morning. Fog. = Summer, San Francisco Bay Area. ;-(
yes, i ended up staying up till dawn to see this tuesday night/wednesday morning. definitely messed with my workday, but since i was up late anyway, i figure, “what’s another couple ours?”
with dawn just a little after 5 am, i recommend getting a look at the sky beginning closer to 3 am, which is around when jupiter and venus rise over the horizon. if you can see them in a dark sky, you’ll still be able to see aldebaran. once the sky starts getting light the colors on the horizon with the planets is gorgeous, but Aldebaran fades very quickly and the planets soon follow.
have fun!
Awesome! Going camping this weekend and will be waking up (… or waiting up depending on how the night evolves) for this!
I can’t wait either. Glad I didnt miss this information and pix. Will have to see what other info the sky will share at that time./be
Thank you so much for this heads up. Absolutely don’t want to miss these beautiful star shows!