By Stargazer Ron
On March 2 shortly after sunset at 6:38pm Venus and Jupiter were in conjunction, only about 1/2 degree apart. In other words, the two planets were separated by only the width of a pencil eraser held up at arms’ length in the clear Santa Barbara sky. Venus is the third brightest object in the solar system after the sun and the moon, with Jupiter following after it. What a beautiful cosmic kiss it was!
Nice shot!
They were closest on the evening before (03/01), but were obscured by clouds.
The brighter of the two in the image is Venus, which has already passed from being below Jupiter on the evenings before. Still beautiful and close, and over the coming days you can watch as they draw apart.
They’re really just friends…