Mars, Venus and the Moon

Three extra-terrestrial bodies in the same region of the sky this evening, low to the SSW at around 19:00.

Mars, Venus and the Moon, Mars is very faint and just visible above a very bright Venus; the moon is a beautiful waxing crescent.

Distances of all three bodies from Earth at the moment are approximately;

Mars = 302 million kilometres.

Venus = 237 million kilometres

Moon = 402000 kilometres.

 

Venus

Moon

Venus with Mars above

The Moon, Venus and a very faint Mars

Venus with Mars above

Venus

 

Geminids

00:05 Clear, -1º, no wind, cloud arriving from the SW.

Loren and I went out in the garden tonight to see if we could catch the Gemenid meteor shower and we were in luck. We had at least 22 “shooting stars” in just under 30 minutes of watching, including a few bright ones. There were quite a few more that we were just catching in our peripheral vision and did not count but due to light pollution and limited views I’m sure we missed quite a few.

The moon had not long risen and is 55% illuminated and at a distance of 404, 750 km.