Alignment of Venus & Jupiter - to be joined by the Moon on 12/1/2008!

The position of Earth in its orbit around the Sun, combined with the orbits of Venus and Jupiter in their orbits makes for a beautiful pairing of bright planets in our southwest sky just after sunset.  To add to this pairing, the crescent Moon will join Venus and Jupiter making a close threesome on the evening of 12/1/2008.  Venus and Jupiter wil be closest to each other on Monday December 1 at exactly 3:38:26AM (EST) when they'll be separated by 2.0137°.  Unfortunately, at that time the pair will be 71° below our northeast horizon and won't rise until 10:45AM (EST) when it will already be daylight.  By the time it's dark, the pair will have moved 2.09° apart.  Adding to the unfortunate timing, the unlit side of the crescent Moon will occult Venus at 8:53:26AM (EST) Monday morning when the pair are still 20° below our east-southeast horizon.  Venus will reappear from the lit side of the Moon at 9:59:37AM (EST) when still 9° below the horizon.

Here's what this alignment will look like for the next few nights from Stow, OH...

Saturday November 29, 2008 at 5:45PM (EST)
Venus and Jupiter separated by 2.44°
Yellow circle around Jupiter/Venus shows 5° field of view in average binoculars
Notice the Moon (Luna) near the bottom right of the picture
(Note: blue line at bottom of graphic represents the local horizon)

Sunday November 30, 2008 at 5:45PM (EST)
Venus and Jupiter separated by 2.06°
Yellow circle around Jupiter/Venus shows 5° field of view in average binoculars
Notice how far the Moon (Luna) has moved toward Venus/Jupiter since last night
(Note: blue line at bottom of graphic represents the local horizon)

Monday December 1, 2008 at 5:45PM (EST)
Venus and Jupiter separated by 2.09°
Yellow circle around Jupiter/Venus shows 5° field of view in average binoculars
Notice how far the Moon (Luna) has moved to join Venus/Jupiter in a single night
(Note: blue line at bottom of graphic represents the local horizon)

Monday December 1, 2008 at 5:45PM (EST)
Venus and Jupiter separated by 2.09°
Close-up of the triple and how it would have appeared in average binoculars, if
our weather had been clear.

Tuesday December 2, 2008 at 5:45PM (EST)
Venus and Jupiter separated by 2.53°
Yellow circle around Jupiter/Venus shows 5° field of view in average binoculars
Notice how far the Moon (Luna) has moved away from Venus & Jupiter
Still a beautiful pair of planets, but the Moon is now out of the binocular field

Wednesday December 3, 2008 at 5:45PM (EST)
Venus and Jupiter separated by 3.21°
Yellow circle around Jupiter/Venus shows 5° field of view in average binoculars
Still a beautiful pair of planets, but the Moon is now far out of the binocular field
(Note: blue line at bottom of graphic represents the local horizon)

Thursday December 4, 2008 at 5:45PM (EST)
Venus and Jupiter separated by 4.01°
Yellow circle around Jupiter/Venus shows 5° field of view in average binoculars
Still a beautiful pair of planets, but the Moon is now far out of the binocular field
(Note: blue line at bottom of graphic represents the local horizon)

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