The Stars at Night Are Big & Bright

Some people are drawn to the Big Bend for stargazing. It's amazing how many stars seem within arm's reach here. On clear nights, it's difficult to not watch the sky.

Tonight the sky is extraordinarily spectacular, with two planets outshining even the Milky Way. I looked toward the south and just above the mountains on the horizon, Jupiter and especially Venus, about a finger's width apart, were dazzling. The moon'd already set for the day, but by Monday the crescent moon will join the two diamond planets to form a triangle.

The best time to view the southwest sky on Monday night (December Fools Day night!) is from near sunset on. If the weather forecast proves true, we should have clear skies in the Big Bend area.

Joe Rao at space.com wrote an excellent article about Monday night's planetary phenomenon. Click here for an interesting read.