Credit & Copyright: Tunç Tezel
(TWAN)
Explanation:
Eight years ago, an evening sky held this lovely
pairing of a young crescent Moon
and brilliant Venus.
Seen near the western horizon, the close conjunction and its
wintry reflection were captured from Bolu, Turkey, planet Earth
on February 19, 2007.
In the 8
Earth years since
this photograph was taken
Venus
has orbited the Sun almost exactly 13 times, so the Sun and
Venus have now returned to the same the configuration in Earth's sky.
And since every 8 years
the Moon
also nearly repeats its phases for a given time of year, a very similar
crescent Moon-Venus conjunction
will again appear in planet Earth's
evening
skies tonight.
But the February 20, 2015 version of the conjunction will also
include
planet Mars.
Much fainter Mars will wander even closer to Venus by the
evening of February 21.
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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: Moon - conjunction
Publications with words: Moon - conjunction
See also: