Thursday, October 2, 2008

Moon approaches Jupiter


As our moon orbits the Earth, it passes all the planets, at least as viewed from Earth. Tonight, it appeared to the left of Venus. On October 6th, it hangs just below Jupiter.

Such is our view from Earth ...

2 comments:

Jeff said...

With a cool, dry, high pressure moving into Va and surrounding environs, we should be able to enjoy some spectacular views over the next several evenings. Thanks to the Curious Skywatcher for pointing out these highlights to observe over the next several evenings. As I was cutting hay this evening until I could see no longer, I looked up to see the thin crescent moon hanging out to the left of Venus with Jupiter to its left and the contrasting colors from black above to the line of orange on the horizon as a crystal clear backdrop. I just had to stop the machinery for a few moments to enjoy...

Curious Skywatcher said...

The moon continues to the east, appearing just to the right of Antares tonight. In 24 hours, it moves to the other side of that red star. On Sunday night, it lies 26000 light years in front of the galactic center. Look for it just below Jupiter on Monday night.

--CS