For the second time in a few weeks the moon, Venus, and Jupiter will come together in our night sky for a great viewing opportunity. The alignment will be at it’s peak both tonight and tomorrow night (March 25 and 26). If you are lucky enough to be in area that isn’t overcast then you will be treated to the crescent moon appearing between Jupiter (below the moon) and the brighter Venus (above).
If you are looking for the conjunction then plan to look west just after sunset. Jupiter will appear about 15 degrees above the horizon with the moon just above it and Venus about 10 degrees higher than the moon. To give you an idea of exactly how bright the two planets will be you may actually be able to see them during daylight hours. They can be hard to spot during daylight most of the time, but thanks to their proximity to the moon, which is easily found during the day, they become much easier to locate.
For more in-depth information you can check out Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy blog over at Discover Magazine. You can also check out the skymap below, which is also courtesy of Phil.
