31 December 2008: Double Conjunction
Tonight just after sunset a double conjunction was visible: the crescent moon with Venus nearby, and, close to the horizon, Jupiter and Mercury. Around 6:00 pm I could all four objects from my backyard in the twilight of the setting sun. Venus and the Moon were shining bright in the southwest, and Jupiter, with nearby Mercury barely visible in the residual sunlight just over the roof of neighbor’s house. I called the family for a look, which they took, with varying levels of enthusiasm.
I got a more unobstructed look from across the street in front of the house as the sky darkened. I also knocked on the door of a neighbor whom I thought would be interested in this sort of thing, and indeed, they were appreciative.
I also took a quick photo using a older Canon Digital Elph camera, and surprisingly, it turned out to be not too bad (see the thumbnails above, which link to larger images).