A God's Eye View Tonight

[kiaer.ts]

There is a conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the moon tonight, just after sunset. If you consider that Jupiter, Venus and the Earth are all in the same plane focused on the sun, you can actually see the plane of the solar system. The moon is at a tilt and is outside the plane. (Draw a line from the crescent moon to the sun, just over the horizon, and you will see this.) If you imagine in your head the plane of the solar system and the moon lying outside that plane you will form a three dimensional image of the solar system. This is a unique opportunity to the planets not just as dots on a flat sky, but actually to "see" the solar system from a god's eye view, and a good time to dust off your digital camera.

[sbeaulieu]

Would I be able to see this from Hawaii?

~ Shane

[kiaer.ts]

Would I be able to see this from Hawaii?

~ Shane

Yes. Simply look for the moon ten to twenty minutes after sunset.

Here is an article.

"They'll appear so close together on these two evenings that you could stretch out your arm and cover the pair up with just your thumb," Gyuk said.

Venus, the brighter of the two, will be slightly lower left of Jupiter, and when the crescent moon joins the show, it will sit to the upper left of Venus.

(Read more about the conjunction and see an animation of the event on the NatGeo News space blog.)

[kiaer.ts]

Jupiter will actually be to the right and hence, "closer" to the set sun. But Venus is, of course, closer, both to the earth and the sun. Jupiter is on the other side of the solar system five times further away from us than the sun.

[kiaer.ts]

Sunset is at 5:48 in Honolulu, and 4:29 in Manhattan tonight.

[galtgulch]

Jupiter will actually be to the right and hence, "closer" to the set sun. But Venus is, of course, closer, both to the earth and the sun. Jupiter is on the other side of the solar system five times further away from us than the sun.

We all know that the earth varies from about 91 to 95 million miles from the sun. Jupiter is 5.2 AU or about 483.7 million miles from the sun. If Jupiter is on the other side of the solar system than it is more like six times further away from us than the sun. It is four times away from earth when it is on our side of the solar system.

I apologize for pointing this out.

Thanks for letting us know about the conjunction. Unfortunately it is cloudy here in MA this evening. I enjoyed the animation you suggested.

Wm

Edited December 1, 2008 by galtgulch

[kiaer.ts]

Compared to the Venus Mars Moon conjunction of 2002 this is a relative dud. The position of Jupiter makes it hard to judge the plane of the solar system. Jupiter is relatively faint. And the moon is apparently not riding high in its plane, so there is little contrast between it and the planets. Worth taking a look, but not nearly as breathtaking as the 2002 event.

You didn't miss too much, William. And, yes, I did pause for a few seconds when I estimated Jupiter's current distance (about 500 million miles from Earth) but figured the threshold for significant figures was low here. And 93x5 is a lot closer to 500 than is 93x6.