After-sunset view is nothing short of fabulous

The view to the southwest 45 minutes to an hour after sunset on these recent clear evenings is nothing short of fabulous. The two bright beacons of Jupiter (to the left) and Venus (to the lower right) are absolutely splendid.

Both of them hanging there in the darkened sky looking for all the world like two bright stars blazing their glory for all the world to see.

Of course, they aren't stars, they are planets preparing for a close alignment on Sunday, November 30. But, then again, they are not really all that close.

Venus is 93 million miles from the Earth and Jupiter will be 540 million miles from the Earth. That is a difference of some 447 million miles between them.

Right now, Venus is just coming from being around on the far side of the Sun and Jupiter is on the far side of the Sun from the Earth so their appearance of being close to each other in the sky is only an optical illusion.

If you keep a watch on the pair during the next week you will see that Venus is moving up and to the left when compared to the background stars. On Sunday, Nov. 30, they will be at their closest, about two degrees apart, or the apparent width of four full moons.

On the next day, Dec. 1, the pair will be joined by an almost four-day old moon with a resplendent display of earthshine or the reflection of sunshine off of the Earth onto the moon. For a better perspective, the moon is only 250,000 miles from the Earth.

Earthshine will give the moon an appearance of a darkened full moon nestled inside the moon's growing crescent, or as it has been put "the new moon in the old moon's arms."

After passing Jupiter, Venus will continue up along the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun through the sky, until mid-February when it will start its journey back down toward the horizon to pass between the Earth and the Sun.

Along the outward bound trip, Venus will pass by two other planetary bodies, Neptune and Uranus, and will be joined again by crescent moons several times. That is something that will be worth watching for.

SKY WATCH: There will several opportunities in the coming days to view the shuttle Endeavor as it passes over this part of Southwestern Nebraska. The first will start at 6:44 p.m. CST today going from the southwest to the east almost directly overhead. The next opportunity will be on Saturday from 6 pm CST to 6:06 pm, again an almost overhead pass. On Sunday, look in the west starting at about 6:27 p.m. for a short pass from the west to the north northeast. Look for a bright, rapidly moving dot. On several of the passes the space station will enter the shadow of the earth before reaching to horizon. If you would like to find other times and pass directions point your favorite web browser to http://www.heavens-above.com/ and follow the directions for finding your home location. Your correct latitude and longitude is needed but they can be obtained from the Heavens Above site.

NEXT TIME: More astronomical blathering.