For the last couple of weeks, Venus and Jupiter have been lighting up the evening sky. They came very close to each other (about 2 deg) and a young Moon joined in to make a spectacular sight. In India, the planets and Moon formed a “smiley”. People in Europe could actually see occultation of Venus by Moon. I thought I won’t be able to see it at all as it was rainy and cloudy all day here. I could catch a few glimpses of the threesome through the clouds in the evening sky last night. The next close encounter of Venus and Jupiter will be in May 2013.

Moon, Venus (almost touching the treetops) and Jupiter. Also a couple of airplanes are seen next to the planets.

L to R: Moon, Venus and Jupiter