Conjunction of Glory
Poster Credit: Azhy Hasan (Download the poster here ) Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets in the sky, will be within 3 degrees of each other in the evening sky of 15 March 2012 at 10:37:46 UTC. This will be quite a spectacle, as both planets are very bright—and this will be a fantastic visual and photographic opportunity, as it's not often that you get the brightest planets in our Solar System so close together. The next Venus-Jupiter conjunction after this one falls on May 28, 2013. Although Venus and Jupiter will be closer together on the sky's dome...
Say Hello to the Red Planet!
Poster Credit: Thishan Pavithra (Download the poster here ) Mars will come into Opposition on March 3, 2012 in the constellation Leo with its face fully illuminated by the Sun and two days later, on March 5, 2012, the planet will have its closest approach to Earth during this apparition: 100.78 million km (0.6737 AU)—the best time to say "Hello" to the Red Planet. Mars Oppositions occur when planet Earth, on its smaller orbit inside that of Mars, passes exactly between the Sun and the Red Planet. Because of the different sizes of the two orbits, this occurs about every...
Welcome the Giant
Poster credit: Azhy Hasan ( Download print version ) It's time to discover the beauty of the night sky yet again. "Beauty without Borders" returns, this time with the giant, Jupiter, which reigns supreme amongst all the planets during October. Jupiter is in a perfect position in the sky for good viewing this month. Jupiter is also the closest and brightest it’s been since 1963, and won’t be this bright and close again until 2022. As a bonus you can also try to catch Comet 103P/Hartley 2 (check the S&T article for positioning). We invite you to join the "Beauty...
