EarthSky News - March 12 - Moon and Jupiter, Top Stories, Venus Nearly Gone

March 12 Moon and Jupiter, Top Stories, Venus Nearly Gone by:

Tonight …Moon edges toward Jupiter Look east as darkness falls to see a brilliant, full-looking moon. Bright Jupiter will rise shortly after the moon, by early to mid-evening. Venus is nearly gone It'll pass between the Earth and sun on March 25, 2017, thereby leaving our evening sky.  Comet Encke nearest sun March 10 Faithful Comet Encke is one of the shortest-period comets known. Its frequent returns helped reveal the true nature of comets. Yuri Gagarin's birthday Yuri was a Russian pilot who became the first human to travel to space, in 1961. His story ... plus links to a Yuri's Night near you. Stardust sheds light on 1st stars   Astronomers observed a young galaxy, existing when the universe was only 4% of its current age. It had a mass of interstellar dust, formed during explosions of an earlier generation of stars. Constellation Leo and Chinese guardian lions An earthly lion guards the gates, while, in the sky, a celestial Lion - Leo - ascends.  Astrophotographer Jeff Dai of China tells the story.

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Tonight …Full-looking moon edges toward Jupiter Jupiter will be close Sunday, and even closer Monday and Tuesday. Start watching tonight.

Venus is nearly gone A telescope would show you Venus as a very thin crescent. It'll pass between the Earth and sun on March 25, leaving our evening sky. This photo is from Thursday evening - March 9 - by Greg Hogan in Kathleen, Georgia. Submit your photo to EarthSky here!

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