Jupiter and Venus over Italy
Image Credit & Copyright: Giovanni Tumino
Explanation: What are those two bright spots? Planets. A few days ago, the two brightest planets in the night sky passed within a single degree of each other in what is termed a conjunction. Visible just after sunset in much of the world, the two bright spots were Jupiter (left) and Venus (right). The featured image was taken near closest approach from Cirica, Sicily, Italy. The week before, Venus was rising higher in the sunset sky to meet the dropping Jupiter. Now they have switched places. Of course, Venus remains much closer to both the Sun and the Earth than Jupiter — the apparent closeness between the planets in the sky of Earth was only angular. You can still see the popular pair for an hour or so after sunset this month although they continue to separate, and Jupiter continues to set earlier each night.
Jupiter & Venus Conjunction Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD
Tomorrow’s picture: balancing planets
意大利上空的木星与金星
图像提供与版权: Giovanni Tumino
说明: 那两个亮点是什么？行星。几天前，夜空中最亮的两颗行星以不到1度的近合之姿擦肩而过。而在世界大部分地区刚日落后的天空中皆可见到的两个亮点，则分别是木星（左）及金星（右）。这幅记录于意大利西西里岛Cirica海滨的主题图像，即是摄于这二颗行星在最小间距之时。在上星期，金星在黄昏的天空中愈升愈高，前去与逐渐沉降的木星会合。如今它们的已互换位置。当然，地球天空中行星之间的视觉近合只是角度问题，金星仍然比木星更靠近太阳和地球。目前你仍可以在本月日落后的一个小时之内，观赏这对大受欢迎的行星；纵然它们慢慢分道扬镳，而木星每晚愈来愈早西沉。
木星与金星近合画廊: 提交给APOD的值得注意的照片
明日的图片: balancing planets
