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| 'Conjunction of Glory as seen from Southern Germany' by Robert Blasius. #VenusJupiter Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) http://www.astronomerswithoutborders.org/ |
Venus and Jupiter will be in conjunction on March 15th, 2012, passing within 3° of each other. The two planets have been getting closer and closer in the sky for the last month, and now it’s time to see them side-by-side. Venus is the higher, brighter object, and Jupiter is the lower dimmer one.
Of course, Venus and Jupiter aren’t actually close to one another in the sky. They’re really separated by millions of kilometres. But from our perspective here on Earth, we see the two objects closely lined up. That’s a conjunction. And in case you’re wondering, the conjunction will be visible from everywhere on Earth As a special bonus, the planet Mars is also high and bright in the sky, visible as that bright red “star” further to the East, Mars recently reached its closest point to Earth, known as opposition. Mars won’t be this close and bright for two more years. The sky show will continue, and on March 25th, 2012, the New Moon will join the pair again to create a triple conjunction. Another great photo opportunity. Although 3° sounds close, they can actually get much closer. In October 26, 2015, for example, the two planets will only be 1° apart.
We are organizing observation session, all members are invited, come down to our Zubair Camp, the event is free, we will start 6PM to 9PM. For location please see maps on our website. http://www.dubaiastronomy.com/
Wish you Astronomical times.
Best Regards,
Hasan Ahmad Al Hariri
Dubai Astronomy Group
