What a pleasant week I have been fortunate enough to experience. It has proven to be quite eventful and exciting, at least in regard to all the astronomical phenomena that has occurred lately. I have been gifted with extreme atmospheric clarity this week, granting me the most stunningly bright display of Mars I have ever seen; portraying a vibrant red equivalent to that of a ripe cherry tomato. Aided harmoniously by the shine and twinkle of the moonlight. Only two days later I was again conferred a sight to behold; the viewing of the rare and unique pairing of Venus and Jupiter. Visible across the entire globe, it is without a doubt the high talk of the night sky for March 2012.
Last month, on February 23, Venus and Jupiter were much farther apartUniversal Chart journal, entry March 12, 2012:
Venus and Jupiter, as of this date, appearing only to be three degrees apart in the western sky, has been narrowing since the start of February. Venus is brighter on account of its relative closeness, compared to the super far away Jupiter. Even though the gap has started widening daily, the planets will appear remarkably close all week and easily visible all month. With my humble telescope I have been able to capture three of the four largest moons of Jupiter for the first time. Never have I fathomed I could so easily experience this for myself from my own home (**authors note- I was always the kid that asked for telescope growing up and never got one). Notably worthy as well, is that during July, the eastern sky at daybreak will be mixed with the appearance of a large, luminous, and yellow crescent moon. This double combo will be worth waking up for; from 430/5 am to 6 am they should still be easily noticeable till 630 am. Please note these are based on my own personal observations and calculations, and EST.
Digital observation by EarthSky.org,taken approximately around end dusk 6:50 pm 3/12/12
Personal photo taken around 6:30 pm, showing how luminous the planets are even during daylight. Following photos are taking on March 12th. Comparison set taken March 16th.
Personal photo taken at 7:30 pm
Personal photos taken the same day with a mere 8 mg camera phone, at 8:30 pm on 3/12/2012
Personal charting and observation done, 3:38 am 3/13/2012, elevation 52 degrees.March 12, 2012 entry
Knowledge box: Venus; information provided by NASA
Much of the Venusian surface appears to have been shaped by volcanic activity. Venus has several times as many volcanoes as Earth and possesses some 167 large volcanoes that are over 100km across. The only volcanic complex on Earth of this magnitude is the big island of Hawaii. This is not because the crust is older. Earths oceanic crust is continually recycled by subduction at the boundaries of tectonic plates, and has an average age about 100 million years, while the Venusian surface is estimated to be 300-600 million years old.
Personal photo taken 3/16/12 at 10:30 pm. Four days and an addition 2 degrees later..
Personal chart log entry at 3:08 am, at the bottom right corner you can see the pairing of Mercury and Uranus as well, which was also visible that night.
So why are Venus and Jupiter up so long after sunset now? For any Venus-Jupiter conjunction to light up the nighttime for a maximum time after dark, a perfect storm of conditions has to prevail. First of all, Venus has to be at or near its greatest evening elongation – farthest angular distance from the setting sun. Second, the ecliptic or pathway of the planets has to make its steepest angle with the sunset horizon. Both of these conditions exist this month. The greatest elongation for Venus (when this planet is due to be farthest from the sunset) will happen on March 27, 2012. As for the angle of the ecliptic, it could not be more ideal than March for evening viewing, at least as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. This is a moment that we as humans should take and properly appreciate the wonder of our solar system and the splendid occurrences we so rarely get to witness.
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