Venus and Jupiter are the two brightest planets, and these days Jupiter is appearing as a brilliant “morning star” in the east before dawn, whereas Venus is appearing as a bright “evening star” in the west after sunset.
Below: Jupiter and dimmer Mars close together in the predawn sky.
Mars is left center, brighter Jupiter is upper right. 5:23 AM CDT July 29, 2013, 7×35 binoculars.
Beautiful skies like this one keep me getting up before dawn:
Below are photos of Mars (currently quite far away), Jupiter, and Venus shown at the same magnification:
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Mars at 5:34 AM CDT July 29, 2013 (10:34 UT) Angular diameter 3.89 arc seconds 97.9% illumination Distance from Earth 223,525,179 miles (359,728,906 km) |
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Jupiter and Galilean Moons at 5:27 AM CDT July 29, 2013 (10:27 UT) Left to right: Jupiter, Europa, Callisto, Io, Ganymede Jupiter’s angular diameter 32.82 arc seconds 99.8% illumination Distance from Earth 557,683,749 miles (897,504,995 km) |
The following photos are all of Venus. Venus passed around the far side of the Sun (superior conjunction) on March 28, and is now gradually approaching the Earth once again:
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7:15 PM CDT July 28, 2013 (00:15 UT July 29, 2013) Angular diameter 12.37 arc seconds 83.6% illumination Distance from Earth 125,386,985 miles (201,790,791 km) |
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12:05 PM CST, November 19, 2012 (18:05 UT) Angular diameter 12.25 arc seconds 85.6% illumination Distance from Earth 126,593,857 miles (203,733,064 km) |
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1:12 PM CDT, October 12, 2012 (18:12 UT) Angular diameter 14.69 arc seconds 74.6% illumination Distance from Earth 105,565,517 miles (169,891,262 km) |
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2:00 PM CDT, September 21, 2012 (19:00 UT) Angular diameter 16.83 arc seconds 67.3% illumination Distance from Earth 92,101,088 miles (148,222,333 km) |
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8:26 AM CDT, September 10, 2012 (13:26 UT) Angular diameter 18.36 arc seconds 62.7% illumination Distance from Earth 84,452,528 miles (135,913,169 km) |
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10:17 AM CDT, September 4, 2012 (15:17 UT) Angular diameter 19.31 arc seconds 60.1% illumination Distance from Earth 80,311,754 miles (129,249,240 km) |
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1:15 PM CDT, August 21, 2012 (18:15 UT) Angular diameter 22.02 arc seconds 53.5% illumination Distance from Earth 70,401,199 miles (113,299,747 km) |
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7:36 AM CDT, August 13 2012 (12:36 UT) Angular diameter 24.07 arc seconds 49.1% illumination Distance from Earth 64,429,600 miles (103,689,390 km) |
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1:39 PM CDT, August 6, 2012 (18:39 UT) Angular diameter 26.05 arc seconds 45.2% illumination Distance from Earth 59,516,628 miles (95,782,727 km) |
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8:52 AM CDT July 30, 2012 (13:52 UT) Angular diameter 28.56 arc seconds 40.6% illumination Distance from Earth 54,298,771 miles (87,385,401 km) |
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5:49 AM CDT July 22, 2012 (10:49 UT) Angular diameter 31.96 arc seconds 34.9% illumination Distance from Earth 48,512,519 miles (78,073,332 km) |
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9:18 AM CDT July 13, 2012 (14:18 UT) Angular diameter 36.52 arc seconds 27.9% illumination Distance from Earth 42,450,876 miles (68,318,063 km) |
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11:56 AM CDT July 3, 2012 (16:56 UT) Angular diameter 42.79 arc seconds 19.0% illumination Distance from Earth 36,238,688 miles (58,320,514 km) |
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11:21 AM CDT June 27, 2012 (16:21 UT) Angular diameter 47.07 arc seconds 13.4% illumination Distance from Earth 32,940,927 miles (53,013,283 km) |
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8:38 AM CDT June 21, 2012 (13:38 UT) Angular diameter 51.42 arc seconds 7.8% illumination Distance from Earth 30,154,150 miles (48,528,401 km) |
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8:57 AM CDT June 12, 2012 (13:57 UT) Angular diameter 56.46 arc seconds 1.6% illumination Distance from Earth 27,463,558 miles (44,198,313 km) |
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7:33 PM CDT June 5, 2012 (00:33 UT June 6, 2012) Angular diameter 57.78 arc seconds 0.0% illumination, transiting the Sun Distance from Earth 26,836,379 miles (43,188,966 km) Projection method with 60mm refractor telescope and 17mm eyepiece |
In Touch With the Sky 