Peter Lowenstein from the Southern Hemisphere country of Zimbabwe took these photos of the dance of the planets in the western evening dusk from August 3-8, 2015. At the left is the queen planet Venus. To the right of Venus, on the other side of the frame, is the king planet Jupiter beneath Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion. Day by day, Mercury climbs upward, towards Regulus and Jupiter. Venus, Jupiter and the star Regulus are quickly fading into the glare of sunset, and all three are to transition from the evening to the morning sky later this month. Meanwhile, Mercury is rapidly flying upward from the sunset glare. Mercury is to present the Southern Hemisphere with its finest evening apparition of this year for several weeks, centered on late August and early September 2015.
Dr. Peter Lowenstein has contributed many beautiful and fascinating images and stories to EarthSky. Trained as a geochemist, he spent his early years with the Geological Survey of Papua New Guinea, specializing in metals and volcanoes. In 1989, he moved to the Zimbabwe Geological Survey as Chief Economic Geologist and has lived and worked in Zimbabwe ever since. Peter is now retired to Zimbabwe, in a house with a beautiful view in Murambi East, Mutare, where he pursues favorite hobbies including construction of electronic gadgets, listening to music, gardening, surfing the Internet ... and photography.
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