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Results tagged “stargazing” from Breaking Orbit

Bored by chocolates and jaded with roses? Give your sweetie the gift of the heavens for Valentine's Day this year.

betelgeuse.jpg

I'm talking about the Valentine's Day star, which graces the skies with its brilliant red glow each year in early February.

—Image courtesy A. Dupree (CfA), R. Gilliland (STScI), NASA

Now, this isn't exactly a name recognized by the International Astronomical Union—officially the Valentine's Day star is called Betelgeuse (pronounced kinda like "beetlejuice").

The holiday-themed moniker was coined by famed stargazer Jack Horkheimer, and there's a bunch of reasons why it's pretty darn apt. So step one will be to understand why the star is so romantic, and step two will be to find it!

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planets-lineup.jpg

The planets (plus Pluto) in an approximate size, but not distance, comparison
—Image courtesy NASA/Lunar and Planetary Laboratory

The astronomy gods are giving me a pretty nice birthday present this year: a planetary reunion.

On December 1 at 7:36 p.m. ET, Venus and Jupiter will be in conjunction, the astronomical term for "really close together as far as observers on Earth are concerned."

If the skies are clear, stargazers will be able to see the planets shining just two degrees apart, with a partially lit moon sitting three degrees away from Venus.

The same two planets met up once before this year on the morning of February 1. They won't be in conjunction again until May 2011.

Even better from a fun coincidence point of view, for the December reunion the planets will meet in the constellation Sagittarius—my astrological sign.

It's brief and a bit blurry, but here's an animation of what the event should look like:

Of course, being in conjunction has nothing to with the actual distance between the planets.

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About This Blog

The moon
From dwarf planets to hot Jupiters, join NatGeo News space and tech editor Victoria Jaggard in a global discussion about all things extraterrestrial.


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