Tag: view

Flying Past Pluto

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The high resolution data keeps on coming in from New Horizons, now far beyond the dwarf planet Pluto.  Using some of the images as the craft flew by, mission scientists were able to create a fantastic video that gives you some perspective as if you were flying along yourself.   We can see Charon and other moons during the early and later stages of the fly-by, with the orbits overlaid, giving perspective on how the Plutonian system’s mechanics work.  As the craft approaches Pluto, time slows down to appreciate the closest approach and see the stunning detail revealed in the...

Venus and Jupiter Hit the Bullseye

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For the last few months, Venus and Jupiter have been visible in the night sky.  Venus makes it’s usual 584 day cycle, becoming an ‘evening star’ once again, reaching far from the Sun in the West, while still following our central star.  Jupiter has slowly worked its way westward over the past few months, due more in part to Earth’s orbit than Jupiter’s.  Finally, the long-awaited conjunction of the planets is nigh, and it offers the best views and photographic opportunities of the year for professional and amateur astronomers alike. What is the brightest object in the sky? The Sun...