Credit & Copyright: STS 30 Crew,
NASA
Explanation:
The month of October features a sky full of planets, including Venus
as the brilliant evening star.
Besides the sun and moon,
Venus is the brightest object visible in Earth's sky.
This month,
Venus appears in early evening near the
red planet Mars
and Mars' red giant
rival Antares
above the southwestern horizon.
Because it is closer to the sun than Earth, Venus never strays far
from the sun in
its apparent position and is seen during the year as either
a bright morning or evening star.
This beautiful sunset imaged from low earth orbit by the
Atlantis space shuttle crew
in May 1989 also reveals the planet Venus blazing above Earth's horizon.
It is a fitting image for this
mission and crew.
It was recorded following the successful release of the
robot Venus-explorer Magellan,
the first planetary probe to be deployed from a space shuttle.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Earth - Venus
Publications with words: Earth - Venus
See also: