See tonight's moon? Neptune in same direction in space
24 comments Print Me Email to FriendTonight is Wednesday, Dec 03 2008
At nightfall and early evening, the waxing crescent moon is well to the upper left of the blazing planets Venus and Jupiter. As seen from North America this evening, the moon swings within one degree of the planet Neptune. That’s less than the width of your little finger at an arm length away.
Will you spot Neptune with the unaided eye? Not a chance. This world is 6 times fainter than the faintest star that you can see in a dark country sky. To catch this world, you need a telescope or good binoculars. A detailed sky chart also helps. Still, it’s fun to stand on Earth’s surface tonight and imagine Neptune up there, hidden in the depths of space, lost in the moon’s glare. We hope thinking about it will make this planet seem more real to you. If not … try a photo.
Of course, tonight’s moon doesn’t really swing near Neptune at all. These two worlds only appear close together because they’re situated along the same line of sight. Neptune is more than 11,000 times farther than the moon. Another way of putting it: the moon is 1.3 light-seconds distant whereas Nepune is 4.2 light-hours away.
Now that Pluto has been reclassified to dwarf planet status, Neptune assumes the title of the most distant planet in the solar system. But many astronomers continue to argue about this change. Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto are locked into a 3:2 orbitial resonance. For every 3 times Neptune circles the sun, Pluto circles the sun twice.
This website is really cool !!!!!
Hi I am in the Philippines and on Dec 1st the moon looked like a smilie face. Can you tell me what planets were involved? I do have a picture if you would like me to send you
Thank you
John
It was the moon and Venus and Jupiter.. Venus on bottom and Jupiter on Top..
i have added this cool website to my favorites, and will watch it every day to know whats going on up there in the heavens :)
Further to my comment yesterday, the sky was at long last clear last night (Tues.2/12) at Chelmsford in Essex, England, so I was able to see the Moon/Venus/Jupiter party! With 10/50 binoculars Venus could clearly be seen as a crescent. I note from one of your earlier answers that Venus reaches its greatest eastern elongation from the Sun on 14/1/09 – could you tell me what its position north or south of the equator will be then? We shall be in Egypt at that time so it should be much higher in the sky than here in the U.K., and hopefully the skies will be clearer also !
Hi! I am looking for a picture or two of the smilie face, I would surely appreciate it if John or anyone would share me their photos which I need for my blogs.
Thanks a lot.
Aida
i really wanted to see this in the sky on
december 2 i wish i was there. In class my teacher
is teaching us some stuff about the moon and the stars.
and i think it is really cool, i want to know more about
the moon and the stars because i think it is coool :]
i really wanted to see this in the sky on
december 2 i wish i was there. In class my teacher
is teaching us some stuff about the moon and the stars.
and i think it is really cool, i want to know more about
the moon and the stars because i think it is coool :]
John from the philippines can i see the picture? Email it to me NailerFan3804@aol.com
This is an awesome sight for information !!!
Thanks for this site. I check it each day. The recent info about the moon, venus and jupiter was special and from my home in NJ the skies were so clear I got a spectacular view of them.
This(Website)is Awsome.
Hi I’m Maria and i can see the planets Jupiter and Venus but i don’t see Neptune because my telescope broke.Jupiter is the brightest thing i can see out there besides the moon.It’s so cool!
I wonder how it’s like to go in space and actually see the planets up close!!!!
hey that is the coolest thing i’ve ever seen that is science fiction it might even be in the encyclopidia on day you know i♥science and one day i will be a scientist.
thanks for that awsome picture, ♥GO*NERDS♥
HEY WUZ UP AGAIN THIS IS A REALLY AWSOME WEPSITE I DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ALL HAVE TO SAY BUT I SAW IT ALL IN MY TELESCOPE AND IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST ONE’S I LOVE SCIENCE CAN YOU TELL?AND IF YOU DON’T THAN OPEN YOUR EYES CAUSE I LOVE IT OK . SO THANKS FOR UPLODING IT AND HAVING A COOL WEPSITE FOR SCIENCE I REALLY ENJOY IT I GO IN IT EVERY DAY AND I THINK THAT IT’S AWSOME AND I READ YOUR WEPSIDE EVERY DAY AND TELL MY FAMILY ABOUT WHAT I READ IN THIS AWSOME WEPSIDE OF COURS YOU PEOPLE HAVE TO LOVE SCIENCE I MEEN IT’S SO COOL THAT I DON’T CARE IF I READ THE SAME NEWS YESTERDAY THAT I DON’T CARE THAT I READ THE NEWS IN THIS WEPSIDE EVERY DAY. WELL THANKS FOR HAVING THIS COOL WEPSIDE :0) FROM:DANIELA THAT HAS ♥ FOR SCIENCE
To David (comment #5),
Venus will be 7 degrees south of the celestial equator on January 14, 2009. Yes, as seen from Cairo, Egypt on this date, Venus will be about 13 degrees higher in the sky at sunset than it will be at sunset in Chelmsford, England. However, on this same date, Venus will set about 45 minutes later after sunset in Chelmsford than it will in Cairo. How’s that for a surprise?
Bruce
This is so cool!!!!!!!!!!
This is so cool!!!!!!!!!!
You often mention viewing planets and starts through binoculars, not a telescope. What kind of magnification is needed in a good pair of binoculars, and what could you expect to see (rings around Saturn? Red spot on Jupiter?)? What kind of telescope would match this performance? I’m not sure which would be the better purchase. Thanks!
I would also like to have someone mail me their photos. I did not get my new camera til Monday and did not get some good shots of the planets and moon. Reach me at leeandcindy@gmail.com. Thanks to those who might have photos and will share with me.
Denise,
For beginning sky enthusiasts, binoculars are much easier to use than a telescope. I highly recommend that people learn to find their around the night sky with the unaided eye and binoculars before purchasing a telescope.
Generally, you need a telescope to see Saturn’s rings (which appear edge-wise in 2009, so the rings are invisible or nearly so throughout 2009) and Jupiter’s red spot. However, a good pair of binoculars works well for seeing Earth’s moon, Jupiter’s 4 major moons, and the planet Uranus. (At present, Jupiter isn’t well positioned for optical viewing.) In late February and March 2009, you can try viewing Venus’ crescent phase with binoculars. Binoculars are are good for locating many Messier objects, such as star clusters and nebulae.
Please learn to be adept with binoculars before buying a telescope. By all means, pick the brains of those who have telescopes. Try to contact an astronomy club in your area and attend a star party!
Good luck!
Bruce
I think it’s great that we are watching the sky from all over the planet. The moon and stars are really bright in the upper peninsula of Michigan tonight.
what is that huge strange way out ring around the moon tonight????
maryjane,
What was that huge, strange, way-out ring around the moon? Many people have asked that question over the years. Here’s a past radio program that addresses the often asked What causes a lunar halo?
Bruce