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Say goodbye to Jupiter and hello to Venusspecial to the arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.08.2009
Now is the time to say goodbye to Jupiter for a while. It's getting low in the western sky after sunset and won't be visible much longer.
Venus, however, remains a brilliant beacon in the west after sunset.
It will reach its greatest eastern elongation from the sun Wednesday. At that time, Venus will be 47 degrees from the sun and will set at 9:24 p.m.
This is called an eastern elongation because even though Venus is visible in the western sky, it's actually east of the sun — becoming visible in the evening when the sun dips below the western horizon.
When Venus has a western elongation, it's visible in the eastern sky before sunrise. Then it's west of the sun and is visible before the sun rises above the eastern horizon.
Don't worry if these descriptions seem confusing.
Just remember that when we speak of a planetary elongation from the sun, we describe how far the planet is from the sun in degrees of the sky. The term "elongation" is most commonly used for Venus and Mercury, which are inside the Earth's orbit.
Sometimes, Mercury and Venus are referred to as the inferior planets, while Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are referred to as the superior planets.
That means the orbits of Mercury and Venus are inside those of the Earth, and the orbits of the other planets are outside.
Venus may be called an inferior planet in technical terms, but it is a superior delight for all who observe it.
Tim Hunter has been an amateur astronomer since grade school. Contact him at skyspy@azstarnet.com.
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