This photograph is taken from Memorial Park, overlooking Hempstead Harbor, at sunset. It is beautiful because of the clouds. It is also maddening because of the clouds! And that's because, behind the clouds, the planets Jupiter and Venus are in conjunction, which means they are really close to each other. Close, as in only 1/2 degree apart! I brought some 15 power binoculars with me, and decided to go down to the water to better see the western horizon. It was still light out, and I was able to see both planets, through some of the thinner clouds, for a period of about 5 minutes. This would have been an astounding thing to see, had both planets been in a dark sky. If you missed this, it will happen again in 2065.
This is really a beautiful sunset. Sorry you only had 5 minutes to see planets. Would it be close this evening to try again? Neither of us will be around in 2065.
ReplyDeleteJoan
The two planets WILL still be very close tonight. I hope the weather holds. If it is clear, you should easily be able to see them with 7 or 8 power binoculars. Because they are so close to the setting sun, I think it might be difficult to see them without binoculars, because the sky is so bright. But go take a look. You have to look directly West, only about 10 degrees up in from the horizon.
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