Starship Asterisk*

Oh the Universe is filled with so many heavenly bodies! :wink: :D

I feel very old based on my Mercury age :( though based on my Pluto age I'm still almost a foetus :). In case you wonder what on Earth I'm going on about use the "Earth years since" link in the explanation. :ssmile:

[quote="MarkBour"]I wonder if an image of the three bodies would be able to show a difference in the phases.

I know that even if they all look right in line at some point, Mars will be farther away from and Venus closer to the Sun than the Moon, so they should not have identical crescents. But I wonder how subtle the difference would be. Perhaps imperceptible.[/quote]

It would have to be a very large array of small pixels on a sensor to show the phases of all three in a single image. Well beyond my budget. (Once could assemble a mosaic, of course.)

Mars, being a superior planet, never shows anywhere close to crescent phase to us. And inferior Venus is more distant from us than the Sun at the moment, so will also show in a very gibbous phase.

I wonder if an image of the three bodies would be able to show a difference in the phases.

I know that even if they all look right in line at some point, Mars will be farther away from and Venus closer to the Sun than the Moon, so they should not have identical crescents. But I wonder how subtle the difference would be. Perhaps imperceptible.

[quote="Nitpicker"]Good timing and a lovely image. The Moon and Venus haven't aged a bit. Wish I could say the same of myself. (Surely just a coincidence that I married a love goddess not long after this image was taken.)[/quote]
Was her name Aphrodite by any chance? :D :wink:

[quote="Nitpicker"]Good timing and a lovely image. The Moon and Venus haven't aged a bit. Wish I could say the same of myself. (Surely just a coincidence that I married a love goddess not long after this image was taken.)[/quote]

Well, congrats, Nit! :D

Ann

Good timing and a lovely image. The Moon and Venus haven't aged a bit. Wish I could say the same of myself. (Surely just a coincidence that I married a love goddess not long after this image was taken.)

Beautiful! This looks like a Maxfield Parrish painting!

[url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150220.html][img]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_150220.jpg[/img] [size=150]An Evening Sky Conjunction[/size][/url]

[b] Explanation: [/b] Eight years ago, an evening sky held this lovely pairing of a young crescent Moon [url=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020524.html]and brilliant Venus[/url]. Seen near the western horizon, the close conjunction and its wintry reflection were captured from Bolu, Turkey, planet Earth on February 19, 2007. In the 8 [url=http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/age/]Earth years since[/url] this photograph was taken [url=http://www.space.com/28151-how-to-see-venus-2015.html]Venus has orbited the Sun[/url] almost exactly 13 times, so the Sun and Venus have now returned to the same the configuration in Earth's sky. And since every 8 years [url=https://www.google.com/search?q=8+year+lunar+cycle]the Moon also[/url] nearly repeats its phases for a given time of year, a very similar crescent Moon-Venus conjunction will again appear in planet Earth's [url=http://earthsky.org/tonight/moon-venus-and-mars-bunch-up-at-nightfall-february-20]evening skies tonight[/url]. But the February 20, 2015 version of the conjunction will also [url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/main/index.html]include planet Mars[/url]. Much fainter Mars will wander even closer to Venus by the [url=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/venus-mars-at-dusk-02132015/]evening of February 21[/url].

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