                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2023 November 14
   A seascape surrounds a large tree-covered hill. Surrounding the hill in
   the night sky are three bright dots: the planets Jupiter, Venus, and a
         crescent Moon. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                             Three Planets Rock
   Image Credit & Copyright: Giovanni Passalacqua; Text: Liz Coelho (Pikes
                                    Peak)

   Explanation: In the fading darkness before dawn, a tilted triangle
   appeared to balance atop a rock formation off the southern tip of
   Sicily. Making up the points of the triangle are three of the four
   brightest objects visible in Earth’s sky: Jupiter, Venus and the Moon.
   Though a thin waning crescent, most of the moon’s disk is visible due
   to earthshine. Captured in this image on 2022 April 27, Venus (center)
   and Jupiter (left) are roughly three degrees apart -- and were headed
   toward a close conjunction. Conjunctions of Venus and Jupiter occur
   about once a year and are visible either in the east before sunrise or
   in the west after sunset. The featured image was taken about an hour
   before the arrival of the brightest object in Earth’s sky – the Sun.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

