Explanation:
Go outside tonight and see one of the more interesting
planetary conjunctions of recent years.
Just after
sunset, the planets
Mercury and
Venus
are visible quite near each other.
Now Venus, being commonly
discernible as one of the brightest objects in the sky,
is frequently mistaken for an airplane. (Venus will set quite slowly, though.)
Mercury, however, is dimmer and usually harder to find.
Recently, though, Mercury can be
found just to the right of Venus,
appearing increasingly below the
brighter planet over the next week.
Pictured above,
Venus and Mercury were imaged next to the famous
Notre Dame Cathedral in
Paris, France.
A careful inspection of the image will further reveal
that the bright object nearly below Venus is iconic
Eiffel Tower.
Vote:
Which of these is your favorite image?
