If your skies are clear on the evening of January 28, 2012, there’s no way you can miss the dazzling planets Venus and Jupiter. At evening dusk or nightfall, look first for the moon in the western sky. Venus, the third brightest body after the sun and moon, beams like a lighthouse beneath the moon, while Jupiter, the fourth brightest celestial body, shines mightily above it.
Jupiter, upper left, moon and Venus, lower right, on January 28, 2012. Image via Fay Knight in the UK, earlier today.
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Most amazing high def image of Earth so far
Venus and Jupiter shine so brilliantly because of the very reflective cloud cover surrounding these worlds. In the parlance of astronomers, albedo refers to amount of sunlight reflected by a planet or moon. Venus reflects 65 percent of its incoming sunlight, whereas Jupiter reflects 52 percent. In stark contrast, our rocky, cloudless moon reflects only 12 percent of the sunlight that hits its surface.
The reason the moon looks so bright in our sky is because it’s only a quarter of a million miles away. At present, Venus lies over 400 times farther away than the moon, and Jupiter resides over 1,800 times the moon’s distance.
Not only are these planets more reflective of sunlight, they are larger than the moon. Our moon has a diameter of 2,160 miles. The diameter of Venus, which is just a touch smaller than Earth, is nearly 3.5 times that of the moon. Jupiter, the largest planet of the solar system, has a diameter that’s 40 times greater than the moon’s.
The waxing crescent moon of January 28, 2012. Moon is five days old, illumination 27.3%. Via Fay Knight in the UK, from earlier today.
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The three brightest celestial objects of nighttime – the moon, Venus and Jupiter, respectively – shine by reflecting sunlight. Watch for these bathing beauties to bask in the light of the sun this evening, with the waxing crescent moon shining in between Venus and Jupiter!
Bottom line: The moon is in between the planets Venus and Jupiter on the evening of January 28, 2011. This post has both a chart and a photo of this magnificent trio in tonight’s sky.
Fabulous view of Venus and Jupiter tonight , Orion beautiful as ever Rigel shining brightly .
Just amazing view tonight! This site had the answer, I wasn’t sure what planets were next to the moon, but it was very apparent they were planets. Thanks for letting me know it’s Jupiter and Venus.
Hi there , Jupiter and Venus were great last night , i agree . Don’t forget to watch Jupiter and the Moon tonight . Do you watch Orion in the winter sky ? Rigel and Betelgeuse are fantastic at the moment .
Wow, Jupiter looks amazing (Watching Jupiter first time)
can anyone confirm that the big red cresent i saw tonight was mars or just the reflection of mars on the moon??? it went down very quickly so i pressumed it wasnt the moon
Perhaps what u saw was the moon setting and turning reddish, which it often does as it nears the horizon. it has nothing 2 do with Mars. After all, the Earth doesn’t turn red from the reflection of Mars and on average we’re the same distance away as the moon is from Mars.
Took my 7 year old g’daughter out to see the moon & planets; what a reaction! She was impressed.
Wonderful night sky, Venus and Jupiter are so bright, it is a fantastic view
I saw a bright star Monday night and wondered what it was. I googled the question and this web site was the first site. It illustrated exactly what I saw in the sky. I took my kids out to show them Venus and Jupiter. I also called friends and family to inform them what they see in the sky. This web site is locked into my iPad. I love it.
i always watch views of orion’s belt via photos but its the first time i open my window look at the sky and see it for my self i feel very inspired its just absolute gorgeous. i came about to this site because i noticed bright star object on top and bottom of the moon i googled it and this site was the first like. i must say its a real pleasure. and my first time seeing jupiter and venus with my bare eyes but in other words knowing what i was actually looking at.
The sky here in south Louisiana was gorgeous at twilight, a clear, beautiful midnight blue, with the very bright crescent poised between the two bright planets. Lovely.
Thanks so much. I was in the right ballpark but had the players mixed up. I thought Jupiter was the brighter of the two and the first one to set.
It’s a great sky tonight here in Ohio!
excellent night for viewing, even if its from inside my house, a perfect trifecta view!
Great view, 2 planets and the moon …we don’t need a star ship to view , just are telescopes.
Awesome clear viewing nite in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada !
Thank you for explaining about the planets.
There seems to be a different moon shining in the U.K. tonight, though.
the moon shifts its position constantly and it is noticeably different from day to day, also its percentage of illumination visible from earth changes, a little less noticeably, day to day. in fact, these things are changing constantly, so from the time of say sunset in the UK to sunset in the US the moon has moved somewhat (in this case, away from Venus and toward Jupiter) compared 2 the background stars.
From the central coast of Calif. ( cayoucus). Two bright stars turned out to be planets. All who posted before me saw the same. Some far and some not so far. Cheers. Here’s to gods creation.
Absolutely incredible I have ever seen. I get to see 3 moons and planet Jupiter tonight at Chabot Science and Space Center. Amazing experience.
Great viewing from downunder in New Zealand. (even if it is slightly different to the northern hemisphere view). Just the site to help identify the planets. Thanks.
Caren says – 7pm Jan 28 –
Great viewing of Jupiter, Venus and the moon from Fort Pierce, Florida.
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