Venus [ http://www.seds.org…] and Jupiter [ http://pds.jpl.nasa…] appeared unusually close together in the sky last month. The conjunction was easily visible to the unaided eye because Venus [ http://www.aspsky.o…] appears brighter than any background star. The two planets were not significantly closer in space - Venus just passed nearly in front of Jupiter as seen from the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Visible in the above photograph [ http://www.psiaz.co…] are actually five planets. The faint dot near the top is Saturn [ http://www.seds.org…]. Venus is the brightest spot near the center, and Jupiter [ http://www.seds.org…] is just above it. Perhaps the hardest to see is Mercury [ http://stardate.ute…], visible below Venus but above the foreground Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. A single line nearly connects all the planets [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], a result of all planets orbiting the Sun [ http://www.seds.org…] in a single plane called the ecliptic [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
Explanation
Venus [ http://www.seds.org…] and Jupiter [ http://pds.jpl.nasa…] appeared unusually close together in the sky last month. The conjunction was easily visible to the unaided eye because Venus [ http://www.aspsky.o…] appears brighter than any background star. The two planets were not significantly closer in space - Venus just passed nearly in front of Jupiter as seen from the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Visible in the above photograph [ http://www.psiaz.co…] are actually five planets. The faint dot near the top is Saturn [ http://www.seds.org…]. Venus is the brightest spot near the center, and Jupiter [ http://www.seds.org…] is just above it. Perhaps the hardest to see is Mercury [ http://stardate.ute…], visible below Venus but above the foreground Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. A single line nearly connects all the planets [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], a result of all planets orbiting the Sun [ http://www.seds.org…] in a single plane called the ecliptic [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
