APOD: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia (2012 Feb 29)

[APOD Robot]

Moon and Planets Over Catalonia

Explanation: Venus and Jupiter will appear unusually close in the sky over the next month. The planetary conjunction will be easily visible to the unaided eye because Venus will appear brighter than any background star, and Jupiter will be nearly as bright. To see the near-alignment, simply look to the west after sunset. At their closest, on March 15, the two planets will appear only about three degrees apart. The planets will not be significantly closer in space - Venus will just be passing nearly in front of Jupiter as seen from the Earth. In the above image composite taken late last week from Catalonia, Spain, a bright crescent moon appears to the right of Venus, while Jupiter appears near the top of the image. The distant sun-illuminated spheres were photographed behind a sculpture depicting the legendary battle between a warrior and a dragon. A gallery of conjunction images is visible on the Asterisk -- APOD's discussion board. Please feel free to contribute. The next Jupiter-Venus conjunction will occur in May 2013.

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[Chris Peterson]

The next Jupiter-Venus conjunction will occur in May 2013.

The current conjunction is not over... the distance between the two planets will continue to narrow, down to just 3° on March 12. There will be another fine series of Jupiter-Venus-Moon conjunctions at the end of March.

[neptunium]

At least the show's not over! I like how the buildings appear curved toward the center of the image.

[Grant.earth]

Very nice photo. Another one of the conjunction from Mount Isa in Queensland, Australia.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mars73/6931189937/

[bystander]

A gallery of conjunction images is visible on the Asterisk...

[Graham Osborne]

Nice photo - but does Juan work for the Catalonia tourist office?

[cepheus]

is the conjunction in perseus and draco?

[~P.]

A little more specific information on the location of the photo might have been helpful:

Plaça de Catalunya in the city of Figueres, in the far north of Catalonia, Spain near the border of France.

[luigi]

Very nice APOD! Congrats to Juan Carlos!

is the conjunction in perseus and draco?

No, Aries & Pisces.

[orin stepanek]

I liked the photo!

[neufer]

Moon and Planets Over Catalonia

<<The distant sun-illuminated spheres were photographed behind
a sculpture depicting the legendary battle between a warrior and a dragon.>>

http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php? ... on#p162755

[Psnarf]

How can I nominate this APOD for an award? The framing and depth-of-field is awesome! Excellent example of using scene composition to create a great photograph.

[imagardener]

Catalonia, Spain? That's a pretty big place, can the photo caption be more specific? Like calling a photo "New England, USA"

BTW Interesting photo, which is why I'd be interested in knowing where it was actually taken. Coincidentally Catalonia came up twice for me today after researching a Catalonian artist named Joaquim Mir.

[bystander]

Catalonia, Spain? That's a pretty big place, can the photo caption be more specific? Like calling a photo "New England, USA"

Catalonia is probably closer to the size of Massachusetts, not the whole of New England.

[drollere]

or, we could have a photo of the conjunction over a flower show, or over the superbowl, or reflected in the mirror of the london four seasons hotel. that "technically" would qualify as an APOD valid image ... true ... and yet ...

[owlice]

or, we could have a photo of the conjunction over a flower show, or over the superbowl, or reflected in the mirror of the london four seasons hotel. that "technically" would qualify as an APOD valid image ... true ... and yet ...

Yes, that's correct, and no need for the technically nor the and yet.

Yes, a photograph of a conjunction from within a city, with city things around, is an astronomy picture. As I walk around Washington DC in the twilight and at night, I often look at the sky; I saw this conjunction west of the Washington Monument. I totally do not get how cheesed off some get about APOD which show things those of us who are earthbound (which is most everyone!) can see with our own little eyes!

If you don't like the picture, well, you don't like it, but to try to imply that it somehow does not qualify as a valid APOD?

It IS today's APOD, though. It's a great photograph. We know that at least one person saw this conjunction from the city of Figueres, and had we been there, we'd have seen it to, but we weren't. How nice of him to frame the view so well and share it with us!

[neufer]

A little more specific information on the location of the photo might have been helpful:

Plaça de Catalunya in the city of Figueres, in the far north of Catalonia, Spain near the border of France.

[b][color=#0000FF]Anamorphosis tribute to Salvador Dali at the base of the Rambla, Figueres.[/color][/b]

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[b][color=#0000FF]Ictineo I replica at the Museu Marítim in Barcelona.[/color][/b]

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<<Figueres (Catalan for fig trees, Spanish: Figueras) is the capital of the comarca of Alt Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain.

The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dalí, a large museum designed by Dalí himself which attracts many visitors. It is also the birthplace of Narcís Monturiol i Estarriol, inventor of the first successful machine-powered submarine. Also born here was Mónica Naranjo, one of the best selling Spanish singers of the 1990s and 2000s.>>

[neufer]

I totally do not get how cheesed off some get about APOD which show things those of us
who are earthbound (which is most everyone!) can see with our own little eyes!

• • • http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php? ... 33#p169933

[starstruck]

Wow!, lovin' that wooden submarine . . . and yellowish coloured too!! Nice find.

I really liked the picture of the day and felt it was a perfectly valid one for APOD. It was a well thought out capture and beautifully composed. Having seen the conjunction myself from my own location, I really enjoyed seeing how it looked from the perspective of another much more exotic location. Any picture that shows a celestial event in the context of it's earthly surroundings is fine by me. Deep space images are fine 'n' dandy too, but the thing I love and appreciate about APOD is it's wonderful variety . . . the spice of life!

Also very glad to read that there will be more to see of the Jupiter/Venus tango yet, around the middle of this month.

[owlice]

• • • http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php? ... 33#p169933

Or our own big eyes!