Venus And Jupiter Coming Monday Night

Make sure you’re looking to the southwest after sunset on December 1, that’s when if you have binoculars, you’ll be able to see all three very bright members of the solar system together in the same field of view. Starting tonight, you can even see Jupiter and Venus getting closer to each other each night.

The moon is scheduled to be a crescent, only 15 percent illuminated, yet it will be very near the two brightest planets in the sky, Venus and Jupiter. Some people who are not reading this story may even call the police or weather offices thinking they may be seeing a UFO. But, what they may not know is that Venus has been vacationing in the southwestern sky since late August.

Venus is the brightest planet in the solar system. This winter you’ll be able to identify the bright star from December 1 through January 1. Beginning Monday Venus will shine for close to three hours gradually increasing to almost four hours during that time frame. If you’re looking, check out the brightest ‘star’ you’ll see right after sunset. Venus is best viewed when the sky is clear.

Jupiter will be positioned just above Venus appearing to move in the opposite direction of the planet. It will hang around for the entire month of December, but its brightness will lower each evening as it prepares to move closer to Mercury. By then Jupiter will be too deep within the glow of the sunset to be identified. When January rolls around, Jupiter will be very close to the sun.

On Monday, Jupiter and Venus will brighten up the sky so, that the full globe of the moon will be visible. The normally darkened portion of a crescent moon will glow a bluish-gray hue intertwined between the sunlit crescent and similarly lit sky. Leonardo da Vinci first recognized what is known as “the old moon in the young moon’s arms.”

Those living in parts of Western Europe will see a more spectacular sight than the view in North America. All except southern Portugal will see a sky that looks like a bright jewel on the moon. Venus will actually disappear behind the dark part of the moon during evening twilight or just before the sun goes down.

The last time such a visual treat took place was in London on October 7, 1961. Another Venus sighting won’t happen again for the United Kingdom until January 10, 2032.