Himmlische Begegnung... Venus meets Jupiter....Rendez-vous cosmique....

First the moon...:))

"Astronomical conjunctions occur when celestial objects appear close to one another in the night sky—this happens all the time and they’re not particularly unusual. But a conjunction happening tonight is notable in that it involves two very bright planets—Venus and Jupiter—and they’ll be closer together than they’ve been since Terminator 2 was in theaters.

Over the last month, the two planets have been drawing closer and closer together in the sky, with tonight’s separation between them measuring only a third of a degree. As the sun goes down—you don’t even have to wait until dark since the planets are so bright—look to the west, where you’ll see the brighter Venus alongside the dimmer Jupiter. They’ll be so close together you’ll be able to hide both planets behind your pinky finger." (source)

 

 Tonight is a special night...Venus and Jupiter are meeting at their closest and I do not want to miss it. So before taking Miss Molly out for a walk, I went out myself hoping to catch at least not only a glimpse but also some pics of their celestial date. It has been a beautiful evening, very calm, not too many clouds and the moon lit the sky beautifully. As I am not used to take night sky pics, the quality is not particularly good. However, I want to show some of the photos as I think maybe a few of you might be interested in how Venus and Jupiter were looking like in Rodrigues...

"At the beginning of June, the two planets were 20 degrees apart in the sky, about twice the width of your fist held at arm's length. Week by week, Jupiter and the stars behind it have gradually slipped lower in the evening twilight. But Venus, due to its rapid orbital motion around the sun, has stayed high up. The resulting slow-motion convergence put them 6 degrees apart last week, setting the stage for Tuesday's awesome display.

Although the two planets appear very near one another in the sky, they're actually not. Venus is 58 million miles from Earth, and Jupiter is 12 times farther out at 565 million miles. The distance explains why the two planets will look roughly the same size even though Jupiter is far larger.

Sky & Telescope Contributing Editor Fred Schaaf points out that this current string of Venus-Jupiter conjunctions closely resembles a similar series between the years 3 and 2 B.C. It has been suggested that their joint appearance came to be known as the Star of Bethlehem." (source)

Here some impressive pics which I found on the net showing the distance and the approach between June 15 and tonight...

 15.06.2015 Cat Connor/ Mammoth Lakes,California

18.06.2015 Gary Sanchez/California

20.06.2015 Rakan Alduaij/At Deception Pass, Washington

20.06.2015 Juan Mario Perez Rayego /Mérida/Spain

22.06.2015 Grant Schwarzkopff/ Renmark, South Australia

24.06.2015 Steve Lacy/Southern New Mexico

29.06.2015 Roger Hillier/Buckinghamshire,UK

 30.06.2015 Sylke Zapfe/Bayrischzell (Kreis Miesbach)/Bavaria,Germany

Sorry, no translation today, I think the photos speak for themselves....

Sources:

he two planets spend eight evenings, from June 27th through July 4th, within 2° of each other (about a thumb's width at arm's length). Not far to their upper left, appearing much fainter, is Regulus, the alpha star in the constellation Leo. - See more at: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/press-releases/venus-and-jupiter-june-30th/#sthash.XsEqUXSo.dpuf

- Tonight Venus and Jupiter Will Be Closer Than They've Been In 24 Years/gizmodo 30.06.2015

- Best photos: Venus and Jupiter after sunset/ Earthsky 30.06.2015

- Venus trifft Jupiter: Die schönsten Bilder/Merkur 01.07.2015

Related:

- A Smile in the Sky/ 08.12.2008

- Sternenstaub...Stardust.../05.09.2013