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Darin Boville
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Venus (on the left) and Jupiter form a duet in the night sky
over Montara Beach.
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As the fog begins to break up Coastsiders are in for an unusual astronomical treat. Appearing just after sunset two dazzling lights now decorate the southwestern sky. These star-like beacons might at first be mistaken for approaching passenger airplanes due to their brightness but they are Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets, which outshine every star in the night sky.
Cloud-wrapped Venus, to the left in this image, bounces back out into space an impressive 72% of the light that strikes it from the Sun-- but due to a greenhouse effect gone wild temperatures still reach over 800 degrees Fahrenheit at the surface. The beautiful Evening Star is a hellish place.
Jupiter is the largest planet--about 1300 Earths could fit inside of it (and Venus is about the same size as Earth)--but is much more distant from us than Venus. For reasons unknown its famous Great Red Spot--a monster hurricane 15,000 miles across--has been fading in recent years.
As the weeks go on Venus and Jupiter will drift apart in the night sky (they were closest on Sept 1 ) so enjoy the view while it lasts.
