1556m 2014/08/19

1556m 2014/08/19 05:00–05:30 EDT Foxmead E window 9 ne 10x50b

Observed Jupiter and Venus again this morning. They are now 1.2 degrees apart. Jupiter is moving away from the Sun and Venus towards the Sun, so the separation is quite rapid.

There are many nice pictures from yesterday morning, but my favourite is this one taken by my old friend Klaus Brasch in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Temperature = 8°C 

1555m 2014/08/18

1555m 2014/08/18 05:00–05:35 EDT Foxmead E window 8 ne 10x50b

Close conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. At 05:00 a large cloud covered the eastern sky, but this cleared away by 05:30. Jupiter could be clearly seen naked eye as a separate and much dimmer object. The view was improved in 10x50 binoculars.

Joe Rao has posted a list of similar conjunctions:

DATE                            SEPARATION               WHEN VISIBLE

1975 February 17               10 arc minutes            Evening sky

1999 February 23               11 arc minutes            Evening sky

2014 August 18                 15 arc minutes            Morning sky

2016 August 27                  5 arc minutes            Evening sky

2039 November 2                14 arc minutes            Morning sky

2056 February 12                8 arc minutes            Morning sky

I observed the one in 1999, actually the evening before, as the evening itself was clouded out.

Michael Watson has posted a nice image of the conjunction:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/14954051141/ 
 

Temperature = 10°C