Venus And Jupiter Conjunction Separated By Just A Cat's Ears (PICTURE)

Jupiter Venus Cats Ears

Huffington Post UK   First Posted: 14/03/2012 13:53 Updated: 14/03/2012 16:39

As stargazers across the world held their collective breath to witness Jupiter and Venus cuddling up in the night sky, this charming snap shows just how closely the planets appeared to align.

Taken in Britain by Richard Fleet, the vice-chairman of Newbury Astronomical Society, the image reveals Jupiter and Venus separated by just the width of a cat’s ears.

The spectacle came to be on Monday evening as the planets appeared to creep closer towards each other in what is known as a planetary conjunction.

Occurring roughly every 13 months, the phenomena saw the pair appearing to be separated by only a tiny distance when viewed from Earth.

Of course the planets are millions of kilometres apart, but nestling beween this pussycat’s ears like some sort of celestial crown, they couldn’t seem closer.

Last Monday, Mars made its closest pass of earth in more than two years, and in June Venus will appear to cross in front of the sun from some positions on Earth.



Feline stargazing, as captured by Richard Fleet


This amazing image of the Jupiter/Venus pass was taken by Flickr user Musubk
View our slideshow of Venus and Jupiter conjunction images taken from Twitter

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As stargazers across the world held their collective breath to witness Jupiter and Venus cuddling up in the night sky, this charming snap shows just how closely the planets appeared to align. Take...
As stargazers across the world held their collective breath to witness Jupiter and Venus cuddling up in the night sky, this charming snap shows just how closely the planets appeared to align. Take...
 
 
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Galician
Keep calm and carry on
09:31 PM on 03/14/2012
Saw them tonight and it was awesome!
08:19 PM on 03/14/2012
Hey! This calls for a new Star Trek movie. I can hardly wait.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
konviser
Have your opinions, but remember that you're not G
07:46 PM on 03/14/2012
Which one is Jupiter and which one is Venus? I think the brighter one is Jupiter, but I'm not sure.
07:53 PM on 03/14/2012
The brighter one is Venus being closer to Earth than much further away Jupiter.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
konviser
Have your opinions, but remember that you're not G
08:08 PM on 03/14/2012
I know Venus is much closer, but it's also much smaller.
08:17 PM on 03/14/2012
Thank You!
07:32 PM on 03/14/2012
Temperature was a balmy 60 degrees last evening at our rural VA home. Sat on the deck by myself and sang a verse of 'How Great Thou Art' as I appreciated the Lord's handiwork... Simply a beautiful country night.
07:27 PM on 03/14/2012
Planets close together? This is Bush's fault
03:47 AM on 04/04/2012
yes, it is...
07:24 PM on 03/14/2012
nice shot
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07:00 PM on 03/14/2012
that cat is telepathasizing to the planetmathises!
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
secondcoming
06:40 PM on 03/14/2012
"collective breaths" huh, what somebody lead someone outside blindfolded, trump the horns, I was breathing for more than a half an hour after I first saw it ... but it's cool.. okay I thought it was neat something worth getting the kids out of the house to see, and know there are more than just stars out there. THe nations big question is how is LA going to get 14 million people up on the high desert and what are they going to do with them after their homes have been wiped out by the flood on the 21st.. and what about Hover Dam, Lake Mead, all the dams in California and the rest of the country.. what's the plan there when they break? It's a big deal, they're over here our Media's over rattling bones in a jar at someone's bat mitza when the Mayans got the real goods and who's gettin the press?
07:11 PM on 03/14/2012
you are sadly one of the many people who believe that bs. Mayans never predicted any of that. the studied astrology. thats it. the whole "we're all going to die dec. 21 2012" is such a scam, why do you think they made a movie in 2009 about it? For ENTERTAINMENT, duh! so stop trying to scare people. Just freakin enjoy the pretty planets in the sky, ok?
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konviser
Have your opinions, but remember that you're not G
07:51 PM on 03/14/2012
I think the Mayas did predict that the world would come to an end, and then be reborn, in 2012. They believed that this happens every so many eons. I myself don't believe it for a second, but I think that is what they said. Of course, if it were true, it wouldn't affect one's personal safety whether you were in downtown Los Angeles or in the middle of the desert.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
stacknef
well,,, glad thats over with! Forward!
06:29 PM on 03/14/2012
great shot! Ive been having a "comment section" back and forth with some guy who thinks that those 2 bright spots in the sky aren't Venus or Saturn and says hes been a "skywatcher" for 50 years, because how could it possibly happen to see 2 planets which are inside our orbit and outside our orbit in the same place in the sky.

fortunately for him, stupidity isnt a criminal offense.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
antipodal2u
Just say NO to hypocrisy
06:12 PM on 03/14/2012
'Fascinating jim'
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
SickOfBarf
05:59 PM on 03/14/2012
Too cute!!!
05:43 PM on 03/14/2012
cute
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Anne Siperek
03:57 PM on 03/14/2012
I was out back last night and it really was a beautiful thing to see. I live on the sw coast of florida and in my neighborhood, this is when I actually appreciate the fact that we don't have street lights!
05:43 PM on 03/14/2012
You lucky dawg
denisedts
Here there and everywhere
05:51 PM on 03/14/2012
I wish it was no lights here where I live. Although I still get to see the planets where I am, they are not as bright as they could be.
03:50 AM on 04/04/2012
I live in the suburbs where you can barely see the sidewalk from the yard because of the anthropogenic light