Jupiter & Venus - Transit

Who says the number 13 is an unfortunate number.  March the 13th is the best of times because after an overcast and cloud-filled skies above me never seemed to open up.  But the sudden appearance of my 'two friends' suddenly said 'Hi' through my gloomy spell.

Both continue their journey westward, pulling away 1˚ each day now.

Jupiter (left), and Venus. 8:30pm

The close coincidence of Venus and Jupiter in conjunction, (or transit) the steep angle of the ecliptic and Venus’ greatest evening elongation keeps these worlds up for several hours after dark – and ensures  a beautiful gathering of worlds in the western evening sky this month. They are well worth getting outside to see.

Bottom line: Venus and Jupiter are in conjunction on March 13, 2012. This is the best evening Venus-Jupiter conjunction for years, as seen from different parts of the hemisphere.  Venus and Jupiter stay out for nearly four hours after sunset. Venus and Jupiter are close throughout the month of March 2012. They are like twin beacons – two very bright planets – near each other in the west as soon as the sun goes down. (Excerpt from EarthSky.org)

Other than Messier and Caldwell objects, running parallel to these are my quest for 'Near-Earth objects'.  Or a layman would say, asteroids and comets.  And not-so-distant away, the imminent hunt for orbiting satellites and other space junk would not be foreign as before.

So lookout for my posts, as they say, 'will arise from the East' and you know it's here!