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Venus/Jupiter Conjunction Tomorrow
TigerNut writes "I've been watching Venus and Jupiter creep closer together in the morning sky for the last few weeks, and tomorrow will be their closest approach, according to this table. The table also indicates this will be the closest that Venus and Jupiter will appear until 2014. Happy viewing! There's more on the conjunction at Universe Today."
Excellent pictures here: http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/vj_conj_nov04.html
All in all, a good night, but I think that the eclipse was visible over quite a large area.
Lunar eclipses are visible to the whole world, at least those those that can see the moon between the times of umbral contacts, which is usually more than half the world.
During a lunar eclipse everyone sees the same thing (well almost due to parallax), since it isn't the Earth being eclipsed, but the moon. During a solar eclipse the Earth is being eclipsed, and so we see it differently depending on where we are on Earth. If we were on the moon, solar eclipses would look the same to everyone.
I stay in Glasgow (about half-way up the west coast of Scotland, for the geographically-challenged). I saw the two planets very close together yesterday morning on my way to work. About 0600 they were fairly high in the east, and apparently about, er... (holds arm out with thumb and index finger about an inch apart) *that* far apart. Don't know what that is in arc units. Very cool. I would have stopped for a photo but I was on the motorway and running a little late.
Your exact location does really matter though since the planets move slowly enough that the planets will still be very close if you look today or tomorrow morning. You need to get out just as dawn is begining to break and look in the east (the direction where the sun is early in the morning). Providing there is nothing much obstructing your view in that direction near the horizon you should be able to spot the two planets close together before the sun comes up.
How to know you're definitely looking at Venus and Jupiter?
They will be brighter than any stars but not by that much with Venus noticeably brighter than Jupiter.
Both pale yellow/orange.
Will rise together. You will not see their separation change unless you look the next morning.
If you live in the U.S. you should have a good view. Most astronomy sites say the northen hemisphere in general. On Nov. 9th the moon/Venus/Jupiter will form an impressive triangle worth seeing.
http://www.busyweather.com/
Probably either NASA TV or behind the lens of a telescope or large telephoto camera lens.
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My manual camera (Minolta X-370s or SRT-202 depending on my mood) should have a great view [260mm lens with 2x multiplier]
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conjunction:
(3) noun; an alignment of three or more astronomical bodies
This is a conjunction of Earth, Venus, and Jupiter. Not all lines coincide with the Sun. I agree with your statement, "this is obvious to anyone with an education", but I must add the caveat of having the capability to apply it.