APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

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APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by APOD Robot » Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:06 am

Image Moon and Planets Over Catalonia

Explanation: Venus and Jupiter will appear unusually close in the sky over the next month. The planetary conjunction will be easily visible to the unaided eye because Venus will appear brighter than any background star, and Jupiter will be nearly as bright. To see the near-alignment, simply look to the west after sunset. At their closest, on March 15, the two planets will appear only about three degrees apart. The planets will not be significantly closer in space - Venus will just be passing nearly in front of Jupiter as seen from the Earth. In the above image composite taken late last week from Catalonia, Spain, a bright crescent moon appears to the right of Venus, while Jupiter appears near the top of the image. The distant sun-illuminated spheres were photographed behind a sculpture depicting the legendary battle between a warrior and a dragon. A gallery of conjunction images is visible on the Asterisk -- APOD's discussion board. Please feel free to contribute. The next Jupiter-Venus conjunction will occur in May 2013.

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Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by Chris Peterson » Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:12 am

APOD Robot wrote:The next Jupiter-Venus conjunction will occur in May 2013.
The current conjunction is not over... the distance between the two planets will continue to narrow, down to just 3° on March 12. There will be another fine series of Jupiter-Venus-Moon conjunctions at the end of March.
Chris

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Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by neptunium » Wed Feb 29, 2012 8:23 am

At least the show's not over! :D I like how the buildings appear curved toward the center of the image.

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Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by Grant.earth » Wed Feb 29, 2012 8:41 am

Very nice photo. Another one of the conjunction from Mount Isa in Queensland, Australia.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mars73/6931189937/

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Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by bystander » Wed Feb 29, 2012 9:00 am

APOD Robot wrote:A gallery of conjunction images is visible on the Asterisk...
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.
— Garrison Keillor

Graham Osborne

Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by Graham Osborne » Wed Feb 29, 2012 9:25 am

Nice photo - but does Juan work for the Catalonia tourist office?

cepheus

Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by cepheus » Wed Feb 29, 2012 9:49 am

is the conjunction in perseus and draco?

~P.

Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by ~P. » Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:10 am

A little more specific information on the location of the photo might have been helpful:

Plaça de Catalunya in the city of Figueres, in the far north of Catalonia, Spain near the border of France.

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Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by luigi » Wed Feb 29, 2012 1:11 pm

Very nice APOD! Congrats to Juan Carlos!
cepheus wrote:is the conjunction in perseus and draco?
No, Aries & Pisces.

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Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by orin stepanek » Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:03 pm

I liked the photo! :thumb_up: :thumb_up: 8-)
Orin

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Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by neufer » Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:46 pm

APOD Robot wrote:Image Moon and Planets Over Catalonia

<<The distant sun-illuminated spheres were photographed behind
a sculpture depicting the legendary battle between a warrior and a dragon.>>
http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php? ... on#p162755
Art Neuendorffer

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Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by Psnarf » Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:02 pm

How can I nominate this APOD for an award? The framing and depth-of-field is awesome! Excellent example of using scene composition to create a great photograph.
:clap: :thumb_up: :yes: :b:

imagardener

Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by imagardener » Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:10 pm

Catalonia, Spain? That's a pretty big place, can the photo caption be more specific? Like calling a photo "New England, USA"

BTW Interesting photo, which is why I'd be interested in knowing where it was actually taken. Coincidentally Catalonia came up twice for me today after researching a Catalonian artist named Joaquim Mir.

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Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by bystander » Thu Mar 01, 2012 12:33 am

imagardener wrote:Catalonia, Spain? That's a pretty big place, can the photo caption be more specific? Like calling a photo "New England, USA"
Catalonia is probably closer to the size of Massachusetts, not the whole of New England.
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk.
— Garrison Keillor

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Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by drollere » Thu Mar 01, 2012 12:56 am

or, we could have a photo of the conjunction over a flower show, or over the superbowl, or reflected in the mirror of the london four seasons hotel. that "technically" would qualify as an APOD valid image ... true ... and yet ...

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Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by owlice » Thu Mar 01, 2012 1:54 am

drollere wrote:or, we could have a photo of the conjunction over a flower show, or over the superbowl, or reflected in the mirror of the london four seasons hotel. that "technically" would qualify as an APOD valid image ... true ... and yet ...
Yes, that's correct, and no need for the technically nor the and yet.

Yes, a photograph of a conjunction from within a city, with city things around, is an astronomy picture. As I walk around Washington DC in the twilight and at night, I often look at the sky; I saw this conjunction west of the Washington Monument. I totally do not get how cheesed off some get about APOD which show things those of us who are earthbound (which is most everyone!) can see with our own little eyes!

If you don't like the picture, well, you don't like it, but to try to imply that it somehow does not qualify as a valid APOD?

It IS today's APOD, though. It's a great photograph. We know that at least one person saw this conjunction from the city of Figueres, and had we been there, we'd have seen it to, but we weren't. How nice of him to frame the view so well and share it with us!
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It Figueres

Post by neufer » Thu Mar 01, 2012 4:23 am

~P. wrote:A little more specific information on the location of the photo might have been helpful:

Plaça de Catalunya in the city of Figueres, in the far north of Catalonia, Spain near the border of France.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figueres wrote: <<Figueres (Catalan for fig trees, Spanish: Figueras) is the capital of the comarca of Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain.

The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a large museum designed by Dalí himself which attracts many visitors. It is also the birthplace of Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol, inventor of the first successful machine-powered submarine. Also born here was Mónica Naranjo, one of the best selling Spanish singers of the 1990s and 2000s.>>
Art Neuendorffer

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Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by neufer » Thu Mar 01, 2012 4:30 am

owlice wrote:
I totally do not get how cheesed off some get about APOD which show things those of us
who are earthbound (which is most everyone!) can see with our own little eyes!
Art Neuendorffer

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Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by starstruck » Thu Mar 01, 2012 8:53 am

Wow!, lovin' that wooden submarine . . . and yellowish coloured too!! Nice find.

I really liked the picture of the day and felt it was a perfectly valid one for APOD. It was a well thought out capture and beautifully composed. Having seen the conjunction myself from my own location, I really enjoyed seeing how it looked from the perspective of another much more exotic location. Any picture that shows a celestial event in the context of it's earthly surroundings is fine by me. Deep space images are fine 'n' dandy too, but the thing I love and appreciate about APOD is it's wonderful variety . . . the spice of life!

Also very glad to read that there will be more to see of the Jupiter/Venus tango yet, around the middle of this month. :yes:

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Re: APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

Post by owlice » Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:44 am

Or our own big eyes! :owl:
A closed mouth gathers no foot.

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