Planets decide they need distance
By FRED SCHAAF
For The Press
Published: Tuesday, December 02, 2008
All this week, the two brightest planets in the sky will be moving apart from each other in the southwest after sunset. Tonight, however, they are still close enough to turn heads. In fact, their brightness is so great, it could make you think of a certain other bright object we are told lit the sky at a certain Christmas long ago: the star of Bethlehem.Some astronomers believe the star of Bethlehem was, in part, a monumental merging of the lights of Venus and Jupiter.Meeting and parting of the mighty: Monday night should have been clear enough to allow stargazers to see the "meeting of the mighty," the compact triangle of the moon, Venus, and Jupiter, which appeared in the southwest after dark.Tonight, the moon will have traveled quite a distance from its triangle with Venus and Jupiter and should lie well to the upper left of them. The two planets will still be fairly close together tonight, only a bit more than the width of your thumb at arm's length apart.
Tonight's separation of Venus and Jupiter will be 2.8 degrees, and Wednesday's will be 3.2 degrees. Compare that with the 10 degrees wide your fist is when held out at arm's length. By Friday, Venus and Jupiter still will be less than 5 degrees apart, and on Sunday less than 7 degrees.What also is majestic is watching them change direction in relation to each other each night. On Monday evening, Jupiter was to the upper right of Venus. But tonight and Wednesday, the blazing Venus and somewhat less brilliant Jupiter will be nearly side by side. As the week progresses, Jupiter will continue to appear farther and farther to the lower right of Venus.Incidentally, by Friday, the moon will be far from the planets in the sky. It will be due south around sunset and, if skies are clear, you will see it at first quarter phase, when the moon looks exactly half-lit. The precise moment of this phase is 4:26 p.m. Friday. Observe how straight the line separating dark and light on the moon appears.The star of Bethlehem mystery: Twenty-two years ago this month, I first published the basics of my theory about the Star of Bethlehem. In the years since, those basics - never the whole theory - have appeared in a magazine with a circulation of 1 million and a PBS television show. The whole theory I have kept working on. I hope soon to finish the book I've been trying to write on the subject.Fred Schaaf is a local author and astronomer. He can be reached at:fschaaf@aol.com
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