Photos from the EarthSky community. Thanks to all who submitted! Notice that Mercury is visible in some of these photos, too …
Venus and Jupiter were so bright on August 27 – and so noticeably close together – that you could see them above most cities. Here they are above Hermosillo, Mexico. Photo by Hector Barrios.Mercury was up there, too. This image of the conjunction is from Diana Bodea in Ibiza, Spain.A slightly magnified view of Venus and Jupiter on August 27, as captured by Greg Hogan in Kathleen, Georgia.Lauren Sobkoviak in Redmond, Oregon caught a block of geese flying in front of the planets on August 27.Farther south along the Pacific coast, Shreenivasan Manievannan caught geese flying in front of the planets, too. He was in Foster City, California.Nuno Serrão wrote: “Venus and Jupiter conjunction photobombed by Mercury – Madeira Island, Portugal.”Helio C. Vital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.” width=”800″ height=”600″ class=”size-full wp-image-247113″ /> The Venus-Jupiter conjunction from Helio C. Vital in Saquarema, a small coastal city not far from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Venus and Jupiter on the night of the conjunction – August 27 – as captured by Andre Smith in South Africa. The fainter dot to one side is Mercury.Robert Pettengill was in Uvalde, Texas when he captured the images to make this composite. It consists of a total of 39 images and shows the relative sizes of the 2 planets as seen from Earth, as well as some of Jupiter’s moons.
The wonderful video below is from Peter Lowenstein in Zimbabwe. It shows the movements of Jupiter, Mercury, Venus (and sometimes the moon) in the west after sunset, from the beginning of August to August 27. Thanks, Peter!
Eliot Herman in Tucson caught Venus and Jupiter on August 27.Here’s an awesome shot of the August 27, 2016 Venus and Jupiter conjunction, from Abid Khan in Bangladesh.Venus and Jupiter over Oceanside, California from Dan Wyman.Venus and Jupiter on August 27 from Zakynthos, Greece, via Dennis Anastassiou.Stephen Marceau in Australia captured this image on August 27. Zavijava – aka Beta Virginis – is a star in the constellation Virgo.Dennis Chabot in Massachusetts caught Venus and Jupiter Friday evening, August 26, 2016. The planets are in the west shortly after sunset.Venus and Jupiter will be toughest to see from Earth’s most northerly latitudes. But it’s still possible. Here they are on August 26 from Steve Pond in England.Rob Pettengill in Austin, Texas caught this photo on August 25. He wrote: “Towering grey clouds filled the sky behind me, but the sky was clear to the west. Left to right: Mercury peeking through the cloud between the trees, then Jupiter and Venus closing in on their conjunction in just two days.”Venus, Jupiter and Mercury forming a triangle in the twilight sky seen from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Helio C. Vital caught the planets on August 25. He wrote: “Ascending Venus can be seen 3.1° below descending Jupiter as they quickly approach each other, heading for a close encounter on August 27. Some 4.7° to the left of Jupiter is Mercury. Currently, Venus is 7.6 times brighter than Jupiter, which is 9.1 times brighter than Mercury. That means Venus is now 69 times brighter than Mercury.” Matthew Chin in Hong Kong caught Venus and Jupiter on August 25.The planet Mercury is up there, too, but fainter. From northerly latitudes, it’s very hard to see. Still, it’s possible. Rajib Maji caught Venus, Jupiter and Mercury on August 25 from Rawatbhata, Rajasthan, India.If you have a telescope, here’s the placement of Jupiter’s moons Saturday night, August 27, when Venus and Jupiter will be closet. Stellarium chart via Tom Wildoner at LeisurelyScientist.com.
Bottom line: Photos from the EarthSky community of Venus and Jupiter – the sky’s two brightest planets – in the west after sunset. Their conjunction is August 27, 2016. Don’t miss them!
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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