As promised last week (“Vertical Moon” at: https://eskildoodle.com/2023/04/16/vertical-moon/ ), the evening crescent Moon is grinning once again. Just a week ago it appeared nearly vertical as it approached the Sun in the morning sky, but now it appears to lay nearly horizontal like the Cheshire Cat’s grin. The astronomical explanation for this is related toContinue reading “Grinning Again”
Tag Archives: Venus
Ecliptic Essence
Since last night the Moon has passed by Venus and risen to side of Jupiter. In doing so it has followed the ecliptic, which is the orbital plane of the solar system and courses through the constellations of the zodiac. The ecliptic follows the plane of the protoplanetary disk from which the whole solar systemContinue reading “Ecliptic Essence”
Smiley Moon and Planets
As promised in yesterday’s post, the Moon obligingly appeared at sunset last night. Tonight, it will be up above Jupiter at the top of the image. Wow, what an amazing apparition of our solar siblings! #jupiter #venus #moon #sunset
Dusk Delight
For the next several days Jupiter (upper) will approach Venus (lower) until they appear as close together as the width of a full Moon on the evening of March 1, 2023. Speaking of the Moon, its thin crescent shape will pass by the planets tonight, February 21, 2023, and tomorrow night. So if you wantContinue reading “Dusk Delight”
Near and Far
The Moon is less than a third of the diameter of Venus, yet it appeares much larger since it was only 224 thousand miles away while Venus was over 142 million miles away at the time of the photo. The Moon is at crescent phase since it is sunward from Earth, while Venus is atContinue reading “Near and Far”
By the Dawn’s Early Light
During a recent morning walk, the dawning sky changed from dark and ominous to blazingly brilliant over a period of about 28 minutes. We heeded the warning of “red in the morning,” and were properly sheltered during the afternoon thunderstorms that followed. Undaunted, however, was a planet peering through the clouds. Venus, in the upperContinue reading “By the Dawn’s Early Light”
Planetary Pair
For a brief time this morning while on our walk, both trees and clouds parted to reveal this planetary pair. Jupiter on the left and Venus on the right are meeting for a day or two and then Jupiter will continue to ascend higher in the sky each morning, leaving the brilliant Venus behind inContinue reading “Planetary Pair”
Planetary Parade
This morning on our walk we saw the above spectacle, a rare alignment of the planets along with the Moon. Next month, Mercury will join the parade as well. Additionally, Neptune, not visible to the eye, lies between Venus and Jupiter. By the weekend Jupiter and Venus will be very close together, and the alignmentContinue reading “Planetary Parade”
Solar Siblings
This morning Venus (bright planet left central image) is joined by Saturn and Mars, the tiny pair to the upper right of the image. Saturn and Mars are so close together that they could both be covered by the disk of the Moon if it were in the right position. The trio of planets willContinue reading “Solar Siblings”
Venus and Mercury
The telescope awaited cloud dispersal in the early evening twilight yesterday, and I was finally able to get images of Venus (upper right) and Mercury (lower right). Venus shows a very thin crescent since it is between Earth and the Sun, while tiny Mercury appears round and is on the opposite side of the Sun.Continue reading “Venus and Mercury”
Eskildoodle Photos and Feelings 