Twin Beacons

March this year was perhaps be the best month to watch the planets for years to come - it was when the two brightest planets in the night sky come together for a stunning conjunction. For the Northern Hemisphere, mid-March 2012 presented the best time to see a Venus-Jupiter conjunction in the evening for years to come. The night sky's two brightest planets – Venus and Jupiter – were near each other in the west as soon as the sun went down, like twin beacons. The next Venus-Jupiter conjunction after this one falls on May 28, 2013 but it won’t be as spectacular then as they are in 2012 because it will be in daylight! This image was taken on March 11th at 10 pm - Jupiter is on the left and Venus on the right. The best night to see the conjunction was actually March 15th - unfortunately, I was in Geneva for a bloody meeting that day :[

This image of Sirius below was taken at the same zoom, aperture and exposure settings as the previous image of Venus and Jupiter. The usually stunning Sirius - the brightest star in the night sky - pales by comparison.