The Moon says “Hi” to Venus tonight.

The Moon visits Venus Jan 25 2012

The slim crescent Moon will be to the left of Venus just after sunset tonight.

Tonight (Jan 25) the slim crescent of the Moon will be hanging out just a little to the right of the planet Venus. Just look over in the west shortly after sunset (which is 5:15pm tonight) and you will see them both hanging out there. Venus will be the brightest “star” you can see over in the western sky (WSW to be precise). Continue reading

Yes – That’s Jupiter right beside the Moon tonight.

Jupiter and Moon at 8pm on Jan 2nd 2012

This shows where to look for Jupiter and the Moon at 8pm on Jan 2nd 2012

So… there are a couple of really neat things to look up at tonight. The first is that very bright passing of the ISS at 6:17pm for anyone in Southern California. Then – just locate the Moon and the very bright “Star” near it is in fact the largest planet in the solar system – JUPITER.

Just get out and take a look – why don’t ya!!

Enjoy!

Venus and the Moon – nice pairing tonight – Dec 26th (Boxing Day).

Venus  and the Moon on Dec 26 2011

Venus will be just 7 degrees to the left of the Moon on Dec 26th. Image from Stellarium.org

Go outside just around sunset (which is 4:50pm)… and you will get a treat of the very “young” Moon as a small sliver of a crescent in the Southwest – and just 7 degrees to the left is the bright planet Venus. If you hold up your fist at arms length that is approx 10 degrees so you can use that to judge how far Venus and the Moon are from one another.

Here is a challenge. Go out BEFORE sunset and see if you can find the Moon and then using the fist at arms length trick – see if you can see Venus IN THE DAY TIME.

More information on EarthSky.org