• Timothy Johnson

Venus and Jupiter Get Closer

Tomorrow night’s first quarter moon appears to the west of the bright planet Jupiter. The two are high in the southern sky, and easy to spot. Both are near the zodiacal constellation Leo. We saw these two celestial objects together a month ago.

There is one significant difference with this astronomical event compared to an almost identical pairing of the moon and Jupiter last month. Standing outside early at night, look to the west and note that the two brightest planets in our evening sky, Jupiter and Venus, appear closer together.

Jupiter is inching to the west and closing in towards Venus, setting in the west. In the next three months, the western movement of Jupiter will draw more attention.

In July, both Venus and Jupiter appear together as a pair in the western sky. With the moon showing up occasionally, this will be an impressive sight. Keep your eyes on the western skies.

While appearing near to each other, their distance from the Earth is vast. Jupiter is 473 million miles from us, and Venus is 93 million miles. This month Venus is about the same distance from the Earth as the Sun.
 

Sunrise and Sunset
Day Sunrise Sunset
Fri., April 24 5:48 7:31
Sat., April 25 5:47 7:32
Sun., April 26 5:45 7:33
Mon., April 27 5:44 7:34
Tues., April 28 5:42 7:36
Wed., April 29 5:41 7:37
Thurs., April 30 5:40 7:38
Fri., May 1 5:38 7:39
Temperatures and Precipitation
Day Max (Fº) Min (Fº) Inches
April 17 57 43 0.00
April 18 54 47 0.15
April 19 68 35 0.00
April 20 55 40 T
April 21 53 45 0.17
April 22 63 37 T
April 23 62 39 0.01

 

 

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 53º F

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