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Credit & Copyright: Jimmy Westlake
(Colorado
Mountain College)
Explanation:
Doing their part in the
ongoing dance of the planets,
Mercury and Venus both reached their greatest
elongation or maximum apparent distance from the Sun
only a few days ago, on March 29th.
Eager to record their celestial accomplishment, astronomer
Jimmy Westlake snapped this view of the two
inner most planets
shinning in western twilight skies above Yampa,
Colorado, USA.
The picture was taken using a digital camera mounted on a tripod.
Mercury is easily the brightest
celestial object near the horizon, appearing to the right of the
foreground structure and
just above a thin cloud silhouetted by fading sunlight.
Still, near the top of the picture
brilliant Venus dominates the scene as the
magnificent evening star.
After climbing in western skies throughout the month of March,
Venus lies just
below the Pleiades star cluster.
Tonight and tomorrow night,
skygazers can spot Venus
at the southern edge of the Pleiades.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Mercury - Venus - pleiades
Publications with words: Mercury - Venus - pleiades
See also: