Scheduled air date: 2002 May 20-26
On the evening of May 14th, an exquisite pairing of Venus and the thin Waxing Crescent Moon
appeared in the western sky.
(Shown about an hour after sunset for mid-Northern latitudes from May 5th
through 16th. Inset shows binocular view of the Moon and Venus on May
14th.)
Over this week and next, the two brightest planets—Venus and Jupiter—will be
putting on another spectacular show as they get closer night after night.
Their closest approach will occur on June 3rd, when they will be a mere 1.5
degrees apart, though they will be within two degrees of each other the day
before and after this date. Not far above the planets will be the Gemini
Twin stars, Castor and Pollux.
(Shown about an hour after sunset at two-day intervals from May 20th through
June 5th for mid-Northern latitudes.)
If you wish to view illustrations for other episodes, please see our Star Gazer Illustrated directory.
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Illustrations on this page were created using
TheSky Astronomy
Software, an advanced desktop planetarium program designed for Windows. Copyright © 1999-2006 by Software Bisque, Inc. |