Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
YOUR EVENING WILL be a little bit brighter today – and it’s all thanks to the planet Venus, which will be 100 times brighter than the brightest star.
In what Astronomy Ireland are calling “one of the most amazing sights visible to the naked eye for the whole year”, the planet Venus will be extremely close to the moon tonight, creating a spectacle for stargazers.
In case you’re worried that you don’t have the proper equipment, David Moore, the editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine, says that the sight will be visible to the naked eye.
A quick glance at the moon between sunset and 9pm will immediately raise eyebrows - we cannot emphasise enough how spectacular this sight will be tonight.
Venus has been moving closer to the moon and the Earth for a very long time now as part of its orbit, and tonight will be the closest it will get to the Earth, although it will be significantly more bright tomorrow as well.
“Not only this,” Moore continues, “But just to the upper left of Venus is another less bright ‘object’ which is in fact the planet Mars. So, there are three celestial bodies in close alignment tonight making the event even more remarkable.”
Tomorrow night at 7pm, a special watch is being organised by Astronomy Ireland to show all three objects (the moon, Venus and Mars) up close in telescopes that can show nearly a million times more detail than the human eye can see.
The telescope will be set up for the public free of charge, and will be based at Astronomy Ireland’s headquarters.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Looks amazing with the cresent moon!
Wow.. Now, I’m looking up at the sky and seeing the moon, mars venus al together from India. Splendid view.. I’ve never seen venus this much brighter before.
Cool.
Some wonderful views of it the last couple of weeks,let’s just hope it clears up out there this evening!
I have to be honest Kenneth, I never really wanted to have a clear view of Uranus….
So long as it’s not Uranus!
Why – ! -…….
Got out of my this and for reason I looked at a half with this very bright star very close to the moon . So now I know what it is.
Apologies for my post Got out of my car this evening and when I looked up there was a half moon with this very bright star close to it . So now I know what it is.
Clear sky here, with faint Mars the top left corner of a triangle with Venus and the Moon.
Have the scope up and the sky is clear here in the country.
The magnification guys never really go beyond identification even though they call themselves astronomers yet people can do much better and especially now with time lapse or sequential imaging.
http://www.popastro.com/images/planetary/observations/Venus-July%202010-January%202012.jpg
As the Earth moves slower and Venus is in an inner circuit we naturally see how it grows larger as it approaches the Earth and as it turns in front of the Sun, Venus will always be an evening appearance as it reaches its widest point before travelling in front of the Sun and it will be a morning appearance when it overtakes us and moves to the left of the Sun.
The original heliocentric astronomers didn’t make this distinction as they had no telescopes and unfortunately few are capable of making the distinction today between the outer planets and inner planets in terms of the perspective seen from a moving Earth.
@Gerald Kellehe Always had a mental block where the planets are concerned, what stands still and who is on the move, but that is a fine explanation even if I couldn’t understand it
beautiful. really clear night for it.
Clear sky here, Venus, Mars and the Moon forming a perfect triangle.
Just went out to look. Amazing
Seen it earlier but completely clouded over here now. Looked amazing though.
fascinating
have your say