An excerpt from Earth & Sky:
"Celestial trio in December 1 twilight
Tonight is Monday, Dec 01 2008
Yesterday, the blazing planets Venus and Jupiter were in conjunction at dusk and early evening. Yet, this evening’s sky show will probably supersede yesterday’s attraction. What is it about these gatherings of objects in the night sky that’s so alluring? Hard to know, but I’ll tell you that Venus and Jupiter will be almost as close together this evening as they were last night. What’s more, this evening, the waxing crescent moon will join the show in earnest, appearing very near the two brightest planets.
The view will be spectacular with the eye alone, although (it must be said) these objects are fairly low in the twilight sky as seen from the northern hemisphere. Oh, to be in the southern hemisphere now, where the trio stands high in the sky after sunset! No matter. People around the world will look up to see and be amazed by these worlds.
As seen from most of North America, the heavenly threesome will fit within a single binocular field of view. If you live in Europe, however, you might not see Venus for a portion of the evening tonight, because the moon will occult – pass in front of – Venus, blocking this world from view. Information on this occultation is available at the International Occultation Timing Association.
Look closely at the moon through binoculars and you might see the soft glow of earthshine on the dark side of the moon. The waxing crescent moon is about 16% lit up in sunlight and 84% in darkness. But as seen from the moon, the phase of the Earth is exactly the opposite, with the waning gibbous Earth about 84% illuminated in sunshine and 16% in darkness.
By the way, if you were standing on the night side of the moon tonight, you would see an almost full Earth lighting up your lunar landscape!
Written by BRUCE MCCLURE , 1 December 08"
