Monday, December 1, 2008
Venus, Jupiter, moon lining up for rare group hug among stars
On Monday evening, the three tenors of the night sky will reunite, an event that may not be seen again for another 40 years.
A crescent moon will join Venus and Jupiter, which have been slowly moving closer to each other, creating a triumvirate of the three brightest objects in the heavens.
The planets will not be as close, or as visible again, until 2052.
"We will get phone calls from people asking 'What did I see in the sky?' " says Doug Welch, a professor of physics and astronomy at Hamilton's McMaster University.
Second from the sun, and relatively close to Earth, Venus is covered in impenetrable white clouds that reflect 75 per cent of the sun's light, making it the brightest planet. Jupiter, meanwhile – five times the distance of the Earth from the sun – owes its status as second brightest to its heft.
Jupiter is twice as big as all the others combined and its diameter is 11 times that of Earth's.
The sight will be visible in Toronto from about 5 p.m. to about 6:20 p.m. on Monday, 20 degrees above the southwest horizon. And the heavenly show should be hard to miss if it's a clear night.
The planets will be visible to the naked eye, separated only by a finger width held at arm's length. In reality, Venus and Jupiter are orbiting millions of kilometres away from each other.
And on Monday, even the weakest binoculars should bring Jupiter's four planet-sized moons into focus, says Welch.
Unfortunately, Environment Canada says flurries and solid cloud cover on Monday night may obscure the view.
A crescent moon will join Venus and Jupiter, which have been slowly moving closer to each other, creating a triumvirate of the three brightest objects in the heavens.
The planets will not be as close, or as visible again, until 2052.
"We will get phone calls from people asking 'What did I see in the sky?' " says Doug Welch, a professor of physics and astronomy at Hamilton's McMaster University.
Second from the sun, and relatively close to Earth, Venus is covered in impenetrable white clouds that reflect 75 per cent of the sun's light, making it the brightest planet. Jupiter, meanwhile – five times the distance of the Earth from the sun – owes its status as second brightest to its heft.
Jupiter is twice as big as all the others combined and its diameter is 11 times that of Earth's.
The sight will be visible in Toronto from about 5 p.m. to about 6:20 p.m. on Monday, 20 degrees above the southwest horizon. And the heavenly show should be hard to miss if it's a clear night.
The planets will be visible to the naked eye, separated only by a finger width held at arm's length. In reality, Venus and Jupiter are orbiting millions of kilometres away from each other.
And on Monday, even the weakest binoculars should bring Jupiter's four planet-sized moons into focus, says Welch.
Unfortunately, Environment Canada says flurries and solid cloud cover on Monday night may obscure the view.
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