A celestial conjunction viewed on December 3, 2009: the moon, Venus and Jupiter, captured at the ESO's VLT observatory at Paranal, Chile. (Credit: European Southern Observatory) Triple planetary conjunctions are relatively rare in ...
A celestial conjunction viewed on December 3, 2009: the moon, Venus and Jupiter, captured at the ESO's VLT observatory at Paranal, Chile. (Credit: European Southern Observatory) Triple planetary conjunctions are relatively rare in the night sky, but astronomers are about to be in for a real treat. The three brightest planets in our solar system as seen from Earth -- Jupiter, Mercury, and Venus -- will be coming together in the sky, "dancing" around each other over the course of several nights, starting Friday, May 24. If we're lucky, we see a triple conjunction once every two years or so. The most recent was in May 2011; the next won't be until October 2015. Because the planets in this conjunction are so bright, the dance will be visible to the naked eye, even in densely populated areas. But if you have access to a telescope or binoculars, so much the better. Related stories If Earth had rings like Saturn, the sky would look like this Boom! NASA captures massive moon explosion on video ... [Read more]Related Links:NASA's Kepler telescope crippled by technical failuresNASA's Kepler telescope and the quest for life out thereMarvel at NASA's mesmerizing 3-years-of-sun-shots videoSamsung Galaxy S4 India launch weirdly tries 'Gangnam Style'Twitter CEO Dick Costolo talks shop about the social network
