by APOD Robot » Wed Feb 06, 2019 5:05 am
Moon and Venus Appulse over a Tree
Explanation: What's that bright spot near the Moon?
Venus. About a week ago,
Earth's Moon appeared
unusually close to the distant planet Venus, an angular coincidence known as an
appulse. Similar to a
conjunction, which is a
coordinate term, an appulse refers more generally to when two celestial objects appear close together.
This Moon and Venus appulse -- once as close as 0.05 degrees -- was
captured rising during the early morning behind
Koko crater on the island of
O'ahu in
Hawaii,
USA. The Moon was in a crescent phase with its lower left reflecting direct sunlight, while the rest of the Moon is seen because of
Earthshine, sunlight first reflected from the Earth. Some leaves and branches of a foreground
kiawe tree are seen in silhouette in front of the bright crescent, while others, in front of a darker background, appear white because of
forward scattering.
Appulses involving the Moon typically occur
several times a year: for example the Moon is expected
to pass within 0.20
degrees of distant Saturn on March 1.
[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190206.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_190206.jpg[/img] [size=150]Moon and Venus Appulse over a Tree[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] What's that bright spot near the Moon? [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/venus/overview/]Venus[/url]. About a week ago, [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160201.html]Earth's Moon[/url] appeared [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140227.html]unusually close[/url] to the distant planet Venus, an angular coincidence known as an [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appulse]appulse[/url]. Similar to a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunction_(astronomy)]conjunction[/url], which is a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_ascension]coordinate[/url] term, an appulse refers more generally to when two celestial objects appear close together. [url=https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20190131_19_100]This Moon and Venus appulse[/url] -- once as close as 0.05 degrees -- was [url=https://www.instagram.com/p/BtTkm5MBEzN/]captured[/url] rising during the early morning behind [url=http://hawaiianforest.com/wp/geological-features-of-koko-crater/]Koko[/url] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koko_Head#/media/File:Oahu_from_air2.jpg]crater[/url] on the island of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oahu]O'ahu[/url] in [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii]Hawaii[/url], [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States]USA[/url]. The Moon was in a crescent phase with its lower left reflecting direct sunlight, while the rest of the Moon is seen because of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthlight_(astronomy)]Earthshine[/url], sunlight first reflected from the Earth. Some leaves and branches of a foreground [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopis_pallida]kiawe[/url] tree are seen in silhouette in front of the bright crescent, while others, in front of a darker background, appear white because of [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_scatter]forward scatter[/url]ing. [url=https://in-the-sky.org/article.php?term=appulse]Appulses[/url] involving the Moon typically occur [url=https://in-the-sky.org/article.php?term=appulse&year=2019&moon=1]several times a year[/url]: for example the Moon is expected [url=https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20190301_15_100]to pass[/url] within 0.20 [url=https://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/degrees.html]degrees[/url] of distant Saturn on March 1.
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