A Happy Sky Over Los Angeles

Sunday the sky seemed to smile over much of planet Earth. Visible the world over was
an unusual superposition of our Moon and the planets Venus and Jupiter. Pictures taken
at the right time show a crescent Moon that appears to be a smile when paired with the
planetaryconjunction of seemingly nearby Jupiter and Venus. Pictured above is the scene
as it appeared from Mt. Wilson Observatory overlooking Los Angeles, California, USA
after sunset on 2008 November 30. Highest in the sky and farthest in the distance is the
planet Jupiter. Significantly closer and visible to Jupiter's lower left is Venus, appearing
through Earth's atmospheric clouds as unusually blue. On the far right, above the horizon,
is our Moon, in a waxing crescent phase. Thin clouds illuminated by the Moon appear
unusually orange. Sprawling across the bottom of the image are the hills of Los Angeles,
many covered by a thin haze, while LA skyscrapers are visible on the far left. The conjunction
of Venus and Jupiter will continue to be visible toward the west after sunset during much
of this month. Hours after the taking of this image, however, the Moon approached the
distant duo, briefly eclipsed Venus, and then moved on.

>