Venus Overtakes Jupiter

I thought I’d use the European racing term more commonly known in the States as ‘passing’ to refer to the progress Venus has made in the predawn sky this past week.

Saturday morning I woke up way too early for a weekend, but remembered reading something about Venus and Jupiter getting closer together.  Without reminding myself by actually looking the information up via Facebook or Twitter or Google, I threw on some clothes, grabbed the keys to one of the vehicles (didn’t care which one) and rushed outside.  It was still very dark, just after five o’clock (Central time zone).  I drove a block up a slight hill to my favorite eastern horizon viewing site (just to the east of Lansing City Hall) and waited … and waited … and waited.  I finally used my smartphone (which I never leave home without) to check when Venus and Jupiter were supposed to rise (using Astronomy.com’s Tonight’s Sky mobile web page).  Continue reading “Venus Overtakes Jupiter”