Date:01/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/01/stories/2008120157910200.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Rare celestial phenomenon today

HYDERABAD: Avid star gazers from the twin cities have a lot to look forward to on December 1.

A rare visible astronomical phenomenon will occur today when Venus can be seen in conjunction with jupiter around 2.15 p.m. and the moon would be in conjunction with jupiter at 8.39 a.m. and with venus at 9.14 p.m., a release from the Planetary Society of India (PSI), AP chapter, said. Conjunction is the coming together of the celestial objects in the sky as seen by an observer. On December 1, after sunset one can look to the south west direction to find two bright star-like objects near each other.

These two bright objects are the planets Venus and Jupiter, Secretary of PSI, AP chapter, N. Raghunandan Kumar, said. The brighter one among the two is Venus.

One can also notice the crescent moon near these two planets. Though the trio appear to be near each other in the sky as seen from the earth, the actual distance between them is enormous, he said. During the course of their orbit around the sun, Venus and Jupiter come in line of sight in such a way that they appear to be near each other as seen from Earth, Mr. Kumar said. Jupiter can be spotted near the South-West horizon till January 2009. For further information: www.ournewplanets.com.