Starship Asterisk*

Venus and Jupiter at Dawn

Explanation: On Monday morning, Venus and Jupiter gathered close in dawn skies, for some separated by about half the width of a full moon. It was their closest conjunction since 2000, captured here above the eastern horizon before sunrise. The serene and colorful view is from Istia beach near the city of Capoliveri on the island of Elba. Distant lights and rolling hills are along Italy's Tuscan coast. Of course, the celestial pair soon wandered apart. Brighter Venus headed lower, toward the eastern horizon and the glare of the Sun, while Jupiter continues to rise a little higher now in the sky near dawn. The two brightest planets meet again next June 30th, in the evening twilight above the western horizon.

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So, which is one is Venus and which is Jupiter..?
From the elaborate prose I can't tell which is Venus and which is Jupiter.
'..brighter Venus headed lower..'
What's that suppose to mean?
'..while Jupiter continues to rise a little higher..'
The large dot is Jupiter? Can Jupiter be expected to appear larger than Venus at this distance?
Is the smaller dot Venus? It doesn't appear brighter in this image.

An estimate of the celestial material between Mercury and Jupiter suggested the equivalent of 4 Earth masses in that region. This was a study done about a decade ago.

I am more inclined to believe that this image is that of Venus and its moon.

freeekdout wrote:So, which is one is Venus and which is Jupiter..?

I think Venus is the larger of the two.

freeekdout wrote:I am more inclined to believe that this image is that of Venus and its moon.

An interesting hypothesis, with one slight problem: Venus doesn't have a moon.

Rob

Awww it's so romantic! I would love to be standing there with my future soulmate! For some reason, this image makes me think of the poster for Much Ado About Nothing.

rstevenson wrote:

freeekdout wrote:I am more inclined to believe that this image is that of Venus and its moon.

An interesting hypothesis, with one slight problem: Venus doesn't have a moon.

I think there are a few more problems than than, and none of them are slight!

Yesterday's clue to today's photo was cleaver. Elba was "able" to host to nice photo. Hope some skilled astrophotographer is also able to catch Saturday's AM triple conjunction (with the crescent moon included).

It's liable to be viable to be APODable. Able will be all to see it.

The description is quite clear. Venus is the brighter (hence, apparently larger) object in the picture. It then goes on to describe the apparent motions of the two planets as they continue orbiting the sun. There are images of this conjunction in which Jupiter's moons are visible. One of the clearest ones I've seen is here. If Venus did have a moon, it would look more like that, depending on the size and color of the moon.

They meet....they part....

Good shot.

:---[===] *

Can anyone identify the faint object below and slightly to the left of Venus and Jupiter, about halfway to the treeline?

kevinmcc29 wrote:Can anyone identify the faint object below and slightly to the left of Venus and Jupiter, about halfway to the treeline?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Cancri