You’ll Soon Be Able To See Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon Aligning To Form a Smiley Face
You guys! Even the galaxy knows we need a smile right now. Ha!
On the night of May 16th, if you live in North America, you might want to go outside, and look up at the stars.
Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon will be aligning, and if you look just right, the sky will be smiling at you.
The eyes will be made by the planets Jupiter and Venus, and the Moon will be a crescent, so it will resemble the smile!
I am so stinking excited about this! The last time this happened was 12 years ago, and I missed it then.
I will NOT be missing it this time. I need a giant smile in my life!
This phenomenon is called a conjunction, and it is pretty rare.
In astronomy, a conjunction occurs when any two astronomical objects (such as asteroids, Moons, planets, and stars) appear to be close together in the sky, as observed from Earth.
Physics-Astronomy.com
Venus is regularly visible near the moon about once a month. But, Jupiter doesn’t jump into the mix on a regular basis. When it happens, you have to go out and see it!
Now, granted, the sky isn’t actually smiling, although our brains may tell us otherwise.
According to the BBC, our brains are hardwired to see faces in everyday objects. This is why we can look at something like the bark on a tree, and make out the shape of a face peeking out at us.
This also explains why we see Jesus in toast, a human figure in our Cheetos, or even a face on the moon.
The same phenomenon occurs when we go outside at night, and see a face smiling at us from the stars.
Or — you know — the sky could just be smiling at us.
If you love all things relating to cool space phenomena, you should check out the picture the Hubble Telescope took on you birthday. It’s so cool!
Totally wrong. Jupiter is due east in the morning whilst Venus is due west in the evening. Miles apart in space and time!
Venus and Mercury will be in the evening sky then but a good way apart.