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English: Pleiades Star Cluster (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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This illustration shows the approximate sizes of the planets relative to each other. Outward from the Sun, the planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Jupiter’s diameter is about 11 times that of the Earth’s and the Sun’s diameter is about 10 times Jupiter’s. The planets are not shown at the appropriate distance from the Sun. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I think it was early on the 22 nd of this month that I had paid a visit to the toilet in the early hours of the day whilst it was still dark. I looked out of my bedroom window on my return as I am usually inclined to do and over to the east I saw two very bright objects in the sky shining like diamonds against the dark blue sky. They were the two planets, Venus and Jupiter, rivals for being the brightest object in the sky aside from the sun and the moon. Just then I noticed an artificial satellite slowly crossing the sky and a meteor almost following the same path but much quicker! When Venus is at its brightest it far outshines any other object in the sky, even Jupiter, although when Jupiter is at its brightest it cannot be mistaken for any other object save for Venus. Jupiter’s brightness varies very little because it always appears as a full disk from the Earth’s standpoint. That isn’t strictly true however as Jupiter can show a ‘gibbous’ phase just like the Moon a few days each side of being full. This is due to the relevant positions of the earth and Jupiter at different times of the year. This means that the giant planet’s brightness is fairly constant. Venus on the other hand can vary between extremely dim to extremely bright, again depending on the relative positions of the Earth and the planet at any given time in the year. Because Venus is an ‘inferior’ planet, meaning that it’s orbit lies closer to the Sun than ours, it can only be seen in the sky after sunset or in the sky before sunrise and is never too far away from the Sun. Jupiter, because it is a ‘superior’ planet, meaning it’s orbit lies outside of the Earth’s orbit, can be seen anywhere in the sky within the boundary or zone which is close to the ‘Ecliptic‘, or the Earth’s apparent path around the Sun. All the planets in orbit around the Sun do so within this band of sky each side of the Ecliptic. Well after that short Astronomy lesson I’ll get back to the scene through my bedroom window! Apart from the scientific side of Astronomy, which I have been fascinated with and have loved since childhood, I am enthralled at the visual beauty of the night sky. Given any opportunity I will look up at the wonders of the night sky. So it was that I looked toward the east and saw these two jewels sparkling in the misty air. Venus, the brighter and visually nearer to the yet unrisen Sun and Jupiter slightly further away and slightly less bright took my breath away as I looked on in awe. Jupiter was shining with a slightly red tinge of colour whereas Venus was shining with an almost bluish tint. Both planets were in the constellation of Taurus and Aldebaran or alpha Taurus, the brightest star of that constellation formed a small triangle with the two much closer planets. Aldebaran is 65.7 light years away, Venus at this time is around 78 million kms and Jupiter 836 million kms. Although the red star is 65 or more light years distant it was challenging the planets in brightness and although noticeably dimmer was very noticeably red in colour. It is a giant orange/red star that if placed where the Sun is would engulf the Earth and Jupiter too. It is 425 times the luminosity of the Sun but because of its distance looks relatively dim compared to the closer planets. The trio made a wonderful sight. Just a little further away the ‘seven sisters’ , or the Pleiades were twinkling like little diamonds to add to the beauty of it all. They are part of the constellation of Taurus but are in fact a cluster of stars numbering hundreds when viewed through a small telescope. I found myself not wishing to return to bed but reluctantly I had to. The sun was shining brightly when I arose a couple of hours later with just the memory of that wonderful scene imprinted in my thoughts. There have been many sights like that one over the years and hopefully there will be many more for me to enjoy yet.
Shirley Anne
Related articles
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- Have you seen Venus and Jupiter before dawn? (earthsky.org)
- Waking to Jupiter (vanetua.wordpress.com)
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