Advertisements
The waxing crescent moon shines 5.5 degrees to the upper left of bright Jupiter this evening. Jupiter is 4.5 degrees to the upper right of the star Spica. Jupiter is gradually moving eastward compared to Spica. Jupiter passes 3.3 degrees from Spica on September 9 to complete a triple conjunction with the star during this appearance.
As with last evening, the moon displays Earthshine: This is the effect when sunlight reflected from our planet gently illuminates the night portion of the moon.
The same occurs on Earth when the moon is nearly full in our sky. Sunlight reflected from the moon, shines on the night portion of earth. Moonshine is so bright it casts shadows.
For more information about sky watching events:
- 2017, October 5: Venus-Mars Conjunction
- 2017, November 13: Venus-Jupiter Epoch Conjunction
- 2017 Evening Planets
- 2017 Morning Planets
- Venus as a Morning Star, 2017
- Chart and Image Collection
- Jupiter’s Year with Spica: A Triple Conjunction
- 2018: Mars Perihelic Opposition
- 2017-2019: Mars Observing Year with a Perihelic Opposition, July 27, 2018