Venus and Jupiter in conjunction on November 30
71 comments Print Me Email to FriendTonight is Sunday, Nov 30 2008
Tonight’s the night! As seen from North America, the planets Venus and Jupiter – the two brightest points of light in all the heavens – will be in conjunction in your early evening sky. This pair of planets will shine rather low in the southwest, to the upper left of the thin waxing crescent moon.
The scene will be beautiful. It’s not to be missed, assuming you have a sky that is free of autumn cloudiness. Just be sure to catch the crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter at dusk or early evening, because they’ll set by mid-evening.
What’s all the hullabaloo about the word conjunction? Generally speaking, conjunction refers to two celestial bodies pairing up close together on the sky’s dome. More specifically, conjunction means that two heavenly bodies – such as Venus and Jupiter – are north and south of one another on the imaginary celestial sphere surrounding Earth.
Since ancient times, astronomers have imagined the heavenly ceiling as a fixed sphere of stars. The Earth’s equator projected onto this fictitious stellar sphere is called the celestial equator. The Earth’s north and south poles projected onto the stellar sphere are called the north and south celestial poles, respectively. Any half-circle running from the north to the south celestial pole is an arc of right ascension. Right ascension on the sky’s dome is the equivalent of longitude here on Earth.
When Venus passes to the south of Jupiter at 7 p.m. Central Time, these planets will be in conjunction and on the same arc of right ascension. That is our modern interpretation of this event. It’s also fun to contemplate how ancient stargazers might have interpreted the coming together of two such brilliant planets, plus the moon! Whatever you do, don’t miss this beautiful sky scene.
It amazes me why you don’t take the mind-expanding step of adding another dimension (literally) to your account of this astronomical event by describing the relative distances to the main characters (Moon, Venus, Jupiter). Come on. Make the jump from 2-d to 3-d. You can do it. I mean, is this astronomy or astrology? 2-d or 3-d? Nostrodamus or Galileo?
Hi Billy.
Perhaps you’ll enjoy the December 2 EarthSky Tonight: Keep watching Moon, Venus, Jupiter. On November 30, the moon will be about 252,000 miles away, Venus will be about 93,000,000 miles from Earth, and Jupiter will be about 540,000,000 miles from us. Thereafter, Venus will come closer to Earth, and Earth will move farther away from Jupiter.
Bruce
Thanks, Bruce. Please allow me to ask a question about each of the main characters so I can see if I have my feeble mind wrapped around this thing.
1— From our viewpoint on Earth, Venus is at the “top” of its orbit around the Sun, and is moving towards us, soon to begin its long descent toward the horizon and, eventually, its place as the “morning star” leading the Sun as they both rise in the east?
2— Jupiter, a more-distant superior planet, is still climbing uphill toward the “top” of its orbit, way, way up yonder, and is thusly increasing its distance from us? I guess that since we are orbiting in the same direction as they are, we are receeding from Jupiter’s position, which may account for most of the increasing distance between Earth & Jupiter?
3— When looking at this conjunction, in what direction is the Moon moving?
Thanks, Billy
Hi Billy.
It appears that you have a good understanding, though astronomers are more inclined to use the words “east” and “west” instead of “top” and “bottom.”
1) As seen from Earth, Venus is climbing eastward away from the sun and will reach its greatest eastern elongation from the sun (“top” position) on January 14, 2009. After reaching its greatest evening elongation, Venus will descend westward toward the sun, to pass between the sun and Earth on March 27, 2009.
2) As seen from Earth, Jupiter – like Venus – is moving eastward in front of the backdrop stars. Yet, relative to the sun, Jupiter – unlike Venus – is losing ground, sinking westward into the sun’s glare. Both the Earth and Jupiter are moving eastward in their respective orbits, but the Earth is moving more swiftly. So Jupiter is receding away from us. As seen from Earth, Jupiter will pass behind the sun on January 24, 2009.
3) The moon always moves eastward in front of the background stars at an average 13 degrees per day. (A fist at an arm length spans about 10 degrees of sky.) Relative to the sun, the moon moves eastward about 12 degrees per day. As seen from Earth, the sun appears to travel approximately one degree eastward in front of the backdrop of stars. This apparent motion of the sun, though, is really a reflection of the Earth going one degree around the sun.
4) I’m enclosing this Solar System Live by John Walker, whereby you can look “down” upon the plane of the solar system and see the planets as presently positioned. To be more precise, we’re looking at the solar system from the north side, whereby the planets appear to revolve counter-clockwise around the sun.
Bruce
it will be a good drama as november’s conjunction
Hello Bruce,
Thank you for this article. I have been looking at the sky for the past few days, I have been noticing two bright planets close ( not very close ). Normally in a city environment, the night sky is not very dark and hence you see the stars / planets “Not so bright”. Still these two were comparitively bright.
My (wrong ) understanding on them was as:
1. The smaller brighter planet was Jupiter
2. The other bigger brighter planet was Mars ( I thought, now Mars is closer to the earth and hence it was bright ). Some 4 / 5 years ago, I saw Mars as bright as this and I was told that Mars was close to the earth at that time.
3. The Venus always raises(?) close to sun rise – that is after 3.00 am or so and we can see venus up when dawn sets up- before bright sun shines.
Now I beileve that the two bright planets, I see are as:
Venus ( brightest of the two ) and the other one is Jupiter; Well moon crescent can be seen brighter today.
Yesterday I was trying to see Moon crescent, but in vain due to time and weather.
I live in Middle east and I will try to see the three planets together today evening. Once again thank you for the information
R,
Yes, you saw Venus and Jupiter, and Venus is the brighter of these two planets. We can rule out Mars, because this planet is going behind the sun and is presently lost in the sun’s glare. We probably won’t see Mars until the spring of 2009. Even at that, Mars will be visible only briefly before sunrise. Mars won’t be shining at its brightest best until January and February of 2010.
Bruce
Thank you for your website. I don’t normally follow astronomy, and I live in the city, so can’t see many stars, but I saw these two points of light and wondered what I was gazing at. They were the only things visible in the sky at the time, so I knew it had to be something unique. Again, thanks!
Beautiful sight last night here in California. Should be even better tonight. This celestial event has me in a Pink Floyd “Dark Side of the Moon” mood.
what do you mean wid pairing? like in sex or? this things that happen can it make some people get more erotic then normal??
we will watch it today.
we had a brilliant view from thornhill southwest scotland at around 1730hrs one in a lifetime ??
This evening, at about 6.40pm my daughter and I saw a huge ball of light plummet from the sky with an enormous tail, like a falling star, but without the slow-motion movement. We were looking in a south-westerly direction close to the town of Ludlow. It was definitively a natural phenomenon. Do you have an explanation please?
can’t wait to see !!!!
talk about Brazil. Now, are 9:00 pm. The sky is marvellous this night. Jupiter and Venus are in distinction. Sensational.
Sir Bruce, I never saw so brilliant Venus and Jupiter so. Is this because of alignments of these planets? Is it the first time that this happens?
Thank you,
Carlos Rogerio (Brazil)
i am looking at exactly the scene depicted in the web site page….same amount of light, but amber haze versus purple haze (sorry Jimi). Phx, over and out at 5.46p
The union of Venus and Jupiter achieves an expanse in understanding all Numbers within our Seed Name from which we have space in the universe. Venus pertains to the ears or the leaves of our tree of life; Jupiter pertains to the regulation of all Values or Numbers within our Seed. When Venus and Jupiter appear together in a house, then developments are achieved by hearing/understanding expanding the Numbers within the house that is in the path of the sun—Sagittarius. The affects of this conjunction in the 9th house of Sagittarius pertains to our Seed Origins. The moon is in the Houses of Dan/Capricorn tonight and in RAuwaben/Cancer in the morning, whereby the ability to make judgments and to use the eyes to discern all things as they are positioned in the Collective (verses as seeing things as independent entities) are developed through Venus conjuncting Jupiter. For more information on this conjuction affecting the parts/houses within us, see The Offerings of Baniymin and the Offerings of Zebuwlan at bethashem.org located under the dove icon.
The union of Venus and Jupiter achieves an expanse in understanding all Numbers within our Seed Name from which we have space in the universe. Venus pertains to the ears or the leaves of our tree of life; Jupiter pertains to the regulation of all Values or Numbers within our Seed. When Venus and Jupiter appear together in a house, then developments are achieved by hearing/understanding expanding the Numbers within the house that is in the path of the sun—Sagittarius. The affects of this conjunction in the 9th house of Sagittarius pertains to our Seed Origins. The moon is in the Houses of Dan/Capricorn tonight and in RAuwaben/Cancer in the morning, whereby the ability to make judgments and to use the eyes to discern all things as they are positioned in the Collective (verses as seeing things as independent entities) are developed through Venus conjuncting Jupiter. For more information on this conjuction affecting the parts/houses within us, see The Offerings of Baniymin and the Offerings of Zebuwlan at bethashem.org located under the dove icon.
Beautiful here in Austin, TX. Absolutely stunning.
when i came home tonight the stars were so amazing ant the sky so extra bright, i knew something was up, so i googled, thanks for the quick explanation! cindy
question. the brighest star next to the moon facing southwest is then venus? not jupiter right? thats because, although jupiter is way bigger its actually farthest right now? so therefore, we see the smaller yet closer planet as the brightest start out tonight right next to the moon? correct?
david
question. the brighest star next to the moon facing southwest is then venus? not jupiter right? thats because, although jupiter is way bigger its actually farthest right now? so therefore, we see the smaller yet closer planet as the brightest start out tonight right next to the moon? correct?
david
A beautiful sight, low in the western sky, just after 6:00 PM on a perfectly clear night in Apache Junction, AZ.
My family and I just got back from a great walk in Temple City Ca (Los Angeles County) and saw this event in the clear dusky sky. It was a truly beautiful sight but we didn’t know which planets we were looking at so I got online right away and found your website. Thanks for all the great info! Now we know.
it is so cool!!!!
Just spectacular from Rio Rancho NM. Brilliant clear sky with sun setting in the background. could not ask for better.
Hello. Thank you for the information, right now from Mexico city we have a great view of the event.
what a beautiful sight this evening. I had show my mother your website to convince her she wasn’t seeing 2 jets landing!
Cathy
(So. Cal.)
This was an amazing sight to see. If you havent seen it yet you might still be able see it. Its a MUST SEE!
My Mom and I were out tonight and looked-up to see this amazing dusk sky! Thanks for the article; now we can more fully appreciate how special this astronomical event is.
One question: how often does this particular conjunction happen?
Thanks!
Thanks for the information, I wandered which planets I was gazing upon this evening – and poof here it is!
Again, Thank you.
Greetings from Pueblo,Colorado. First time on your site. I told my wife ( both of us being novices at star gazing.)that these two
bodies were planets. She didn’t beleive me,of course. Thanks for the 5 bucks! We’ll visit again soon.
Saw the three-way conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the Moon this evening in Escondido, CA. I thought the three together looked a bit like a smiley face – rare celestial mirth from heaven!
My husband and I saw this tonight not knowing what it was, but realizing it was something special! We sat and watched for hours. Thanks for the info.
Beautiful!!
I’m no astronomer. I just appreciate the simple things. I saw it and had no idea what I was looking at; it just looked like the night sky was smiling. Thank you for the grown up explanation.
I noticed these beautiful planets last night on the drive home from shopping. Although my husband and I have no astrological knowledge we always enjoy looking at the sky and pay attention to the night sky driving home after dark. To be honest, living outside Phoenix, we usually pay attention to “the stack” (another term for planes waiting to land at Sky Harbor airport)more than looking for planets. We see the planes from several different directions making up the stack. These two planets were beautiful and we watched them for about ten minutes before determining they were not just more planes. My husband spends alot of time on the back patio facing south and took me out to see them tonight. We have few street lights here in Queen Creek and the stars are just beautiful. Thanks to all of you who have shared your knowledge with us tonight. I will bring this to the attention to my grandchildren.
We are viewing Venus, Jupiter & the cresent moon from Kona, Hawaii. It’s quite beautiful as the trio set into the haze from the Kilauea volcano in the distant northwest sky.
Since we are roughly 1 month away from our Perihelion, it would be interesting to see this sight 7 months from now when we are 800 earths farther away from Sol.
and what a sight it was indeed here in S. California, marvelous!
and what a sight it was indeed here in S. California, marvelous!
Hello Bruce,
The illustration on your podcast page of the conjunction tonight shows the crescent of the lighted moon on the left. That’s wrong, isn’t it? Is Mr. Bossco trying to slip something by us?
I am a teacher and my sixth grade class starts an astronomy unit tomorrow. Good timing.
Aristarchus was outside the box!
Thanks,
Chris Whetstone
how rare is this event?
thanks for the info, im from the Philippines, ryt now its 8pm and i see a big smiley face with Venus,Jupiter and the moon, what a lovely sight!
In Taiwan, it looks just like a smiling face. Lovely.
I saw the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter and hour ago and it really looks amazing! Even cute, because below the two planets is the Crescent Moon and it looks like a smiling face and i can’t help it to smile back.
Wonders of the universe!
Enjoy!
MiCHiE (Manila, Philippines)
Hey Guys,
The sights from Thailand are amazing..there is a happy face in the sky..and it seems fitting since all the fighting and the airports closing down..maybe people will look up and learn to love each other..
Chris,
Good observation! The photo by Bossco was taken in February 4, 2008, when the waning crescent moon was nearby Venus and Jupiter at dawn. John B, the next good evening conjunction of Venus and Jupiter will be on March 15, 2012. Thank you everyone for sending us your comments. I’m so glad so many of you see the crescent moon as a smiling face!
Bruce
Hi, thank you for the information. It was an amazing scene in Hong Kong. The three objects formed a smiling face. How wonderful, please go here for the photo:
http://leetm.mingpao.com/cfm/Forum3.cfm?CategoryID=3&TopicID=1646&TopicOrder=Desc&TopicPage=1
Great! Its a real beauty!!! We have seen this in India at 7.30 pm on 1 st November. Thanx for your information. This is the website that I found quickly in google as i was searching to know which planets are in the sky !!!!!! I have take a good pic too.Do you have any option to upload that?
we live in abu dhabi, united arab emirates. it is now 7.30pm and we are looking at this beautiful conjunction since 2 hrs.. also seen in amman, jordan, and cairo, egypt.
yo
this is cool
In Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, it looks like the moon and the two planets are smiling at us… its… heavenly!
it is really fantastic and looks night sky smiling
In reply to Charlotte Kidson I too saw a bright orange flame like light, it travelling South (I live in Cheshire) did you see it land? I followed it to a point of light, but then it disappeared.
any ideas what it was? meteor?
I agree with the fella below me about a 3D picture. I wanted to see the moon what it looked like tonight as jupitur and venus are close to the moon. Would like to see an actual picture as…. its too cloudy to see mr moon tonight.
Hope you take these kind words in good respect..
Keep it going moon watchers, night night :)
Has anyone got a photo of the moon on monday 1st December??
If sooo please email it to me, thanks :)
its_molly@hotmail.co.uk
I agree with the fella below me about a 3D picture. I wanted to see the moon what it looked like tonight as jupitur and venus are close to the moon. Would like to see an actual picture as…. its too cloudy to see mr moon tonight.
Hope you take these kind words in good respect..
Keep it going moon watchers, night night :)
Has anyone got a photo of the moon on monday 1st December??
If sooo please email it to me, thanks :)
its_molly@hotmail.co.uk
why are they appearing to gether thats all i want to know why
e-man,
For an answer to your query, read the first 4 comments.
Bruce
Can any of you tell me the last time this specific alignment occurred? I live in north Georgia and it was/is stunning!
we saw it here in philippines last night and it’s very beautiful, like a smiling face.
Hi mr. Bruce will you please explain more about the jupiter and venus conjuction?
Wow!!!!!!!! I misssed it but I can here from the comments that it was so fantastic, my question is that how oftern does this conjuction takes place in a century.
Wow!!!!!!!! I misssed it but I can here from the comments that it was so fantastic, my question is that how oftern does this conjuction takes place in a century. south Africa
Wow!!!!!!!! I misssed it but I can here from the comments that it was so fantastic, my question is that how oftern does this conjuction takes place in a century. south Africa
How often does this happen?
when will venus,jupiter,and the moon show up together again?
Hi, I was amazed to see this happen on sunday. I took a picture with my cell phone which is not that great, but I’ll use it as my Gravatar to show you guys what it looked like in San Diego, CA. Did anyone take pictures? And if so, could you share them?
Venus looked like the right eye and Jupiter was the left eye. The moon was a wide smile. It was like God had painted a smiley face for all of us to see.
“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” —Psalm 8:3,4
i feel that all sorts of this things are from god.
i feel that all sorts of these things are from god.
Hi everyone!
I’ll try to satisfy your curiosity about the past and future gatherings of the moon, Venus and Jupiter. The last time the moon, Venus and Jupiter were close together and easily visible was in the wee morning hours on February 4, 2008.
The moon, Venus and Jupiter (plus Mercury and Mercury!) will convene at dawn on May 1, 2011, though this gathering will be difficult to see from the northern hemisphere. The next good opportunity for seeing the moon, Venus and Jupiter in close vicinity will be on the evenings of February 25 and 26, 2012. But the trio on these dates won’t be nearly as close-knit as it was on December 1, 2008!
Bruce