Monday, October 26, 2015
The Planet Dance Continues (Venus and Jupiter, Venus and Mars, with Added Moon - 27 October - 8 November, 2015)
Don't worry if you have missed Mondays conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, although Tuesday morning line-up is not as close, it will still be beautiful.
After this Venus heads towards Mars, making a nice line-up with the bright star Regulus, Jupiter and Mars itself. On the 3rd of November Venu and Mars are at their closest, less than half a fingerwidth apart. The pair will nicely fit into a low power telescope field, although the brightness of Venus makes imaging with Mars difficult.
The waning Moon joins the lineup, and on the 7th of November the crescent Moon is close to Jupiter. The following night the crescent Moon, Mars and Venus make a nice grouping.
Animation of the planet dance from 27 October to 8 December at 5:30 am (click to embiggen).
So, if you are going to be up early, and have a fairly level eastern horizon, you will have some nice sights over the coming weeks.
Labels: Conjunction, Jupiter, Mars, Moon, telescope, unaided eye, Venus