It'll be a star-studded weekend
Venus, Jupiter and a crescent moon will crowd together in the southwestern sky for a rare display.
Reporting from Washington — It's not just families that are getting together for Thanksgiving. The three brightest objects in the night sky -- Venus, Jupiter and a crescent moon -- will crowd in for an unusual group shot.
Starting tonight, Jupiter and Venus will begin moving closer together, so that by Sunday and Monday, they will appear 2 degrees apart. That's about a finger width held out at arm's length, said Alan M. MacRobert, senior editor at Sky & Telescope magazine. Monday night, they will be joined by a crescent moon, he said.
Look in the southwestern sky around twilight -- no telescope or binoculars needed. The show will even be visible in cities if it's a clear night.
The moon is the brightest, closest and smallest of the three and is about 240,000 miles away. Venus, the second brightest, closest and smallest, is 23.7 million miles away, at its closest. And big Jupiter is about 500 million miles away.
"It'll be a head-turner," MacRobert said. "This certainly is an unusual coincidence for the crescent moon to be right there in the days when they are going to be closest together."
The next time the three will be as close and visible as this week will be Nov. 18, 2052, according to Jack Horkheimer, director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of "Star Gazer" on PBS.
But if you are willing to settle for two out of three -- Venus and the crescent moon -- it will happen on New Year's Eve, MacRobert said.
