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January
29, 2008: Wake up before dawn on an arctic-cold February
morning .... and go outside?
This
Friday you'll be glad you did.
The
two brightest planets in the Solar System, Venus and Jupiter,
are converging for a spectacular close encounter. The best
time to look: Friday morning, February 1st. Venus and Jupiter
will be so close together, you can hide them behind the tip
of your index finger held at arm's length: sky
map.
![see caption](images/venusjupiter/Thierry-Demange_strip.jpg)
Right:
Venus and Jupiter converging but still far apart on Jan. 23rd.
Photo credit: Thierry Demange of Strasbourg, France. [Larger
image]
You'll
need a clear view of the southeastern horizon to see the show.
Venus and Jupiter will be hanging low, like landing airplanes,
easily hidden behind tall buildings or trees. So go out beforehand
(at noon when it is warmer) and find a gap to look through
so you won't have to hunt for one in the dark on Friday.
It's
worth the effort because Venus and Jupiter will be less than
1o apart, like twin headlights piercing the rosy
glow of sunrise. It's a beautiful scene. In fact, you may
not be able to take your eyes off of it. Venus and Jupiter
are literally spellbinding.
There
is a physiological basis for this phenomenon. When two planets
appear so close together, they grab an extra share of your
brain's attention. Consider the following:
"Your
eye is like a digital camera," explains Dr. Stuart Hiroyasu,
O.D., of Bishop, California. "There's a lens in front
to focus the light, and a photo-array behind the lens to capture
the image. The photo-array in your eye is called the retina.
It's made of rods and cones, the fleshy organic equivalent
of electronic pixels."
Right:
The fovea is responsible for our central, sharpest vision.
[More]
Near
the center of the retina lies the fovea, a patch of tissue
1.5 millimeters wide where cones are extra-densely packed.
"Whatever you see with the fovea, you see in high-definition,"
he says. The fovea is critical to reading, driving, watching
television. The fovea has the brain's attention.
The
field of view of the fovea is only about five degrees wide.
On Friday morning, Venus and Jupiter will fit together inside
that narrow angle, signaling to the brain, "this is worth
watching!"
If
you can tear your eyes off Venus and Jupiter, glance to the
right: Another close encounter is underway. The crescent Moon
appears directly beside the red giant star Antares. With only
2o between them, the Moon and Antares will fit
inside your fovea as well.
Friday
morning should not be missed, but if you do miss it, don't
worry, the show continues as February unfolds. Venus and Jupiter
will remain relatively close together for several days to
come while the Moon moves in to join them. Mornings of note
include Sunday, Feb.
3rd, when the Moon, Venus and Jupiter arrange themselves
in a slightly-bent line, and Monday, Feb.
4th, when the trio form one of the most exquisite celestial
triangles you'll ever see.
Cold,
what arctic cold? Sky maps: Jan.
31, Feb
1, 2,
3,
4.
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Author: Dr.
Tony Phillips | Production Editor:
Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
more
information |
Note:
Venus and Jupiter aren't genuinely close together on
Feb. 1st. A yawning gulf of 700 million km separate
the two. The planets are merely aligned as seen from
Earth--a beautiful yet misleading arrangement.
NASA's
Future: The
Vision for Space Exploration |
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