A few weeks ago, as Venus was getting high in the sky, you may remember that Jupiter and Venus have been jockeying for position around the Moon as it all appears from here on Earth (here’s a look at some of the photos I took of this cosmic dance over the last few weeks.)
Now, just last night, these planets had what NASA officials called “the best Venus-Jupiter conjunction for years to come,” in a recent skywatching alert.
Here, above, is a photo I took of all of this last night in our backyard in Port Hope, Ontario, on the evening of March 26.
The Moon can be seen at centre with Earthshine and some hints of detail in lunar “seas” in its waxing crescent phase.
Venus is the sparkling “star” to the right of the Moon, with Jupiter shining as a bright “star” below at the bottom of the frame.
The Pleiades (Seven Sisters or “Lost Boys” in some First Nations lore) is the compact group of stars twinkling with faint hints of nebular gas at the top of the frame.
The image above was taken with a Canon 60D and 17mm EFS lens during a 10 second exposure at f6