Venus, via NASA
In case you missed Venus making a clear appearance in last night's sky, you have an opportunity to see it today, and while the sun is still out. But please do not look directly at the sun! Discovery News notes that the planet has been "dominating the nighttime sky" recently, but what many don't know is that you can also spot it during the day, and in fact, President Abraham Lincoln spotted the planet one afternoon in 1865. His bodyguard said at the time:
"I glanced up in that direction, and there in plain view, shining out in all her star-like beauty, was the planet Venus. It was a little after midday at the time I saw it, possibly near one o'clock; the sun seemed to be a little west of the median, the star a little east. It was a strange sight. I never saw a star at that time in the day before or since. The President and those who were with him in the carriage noticed the star at the same time."
Here's how to spot the planet today:
"Go out around 4 p.m. local time on Monday, and position yourself so that the sun is behind a chimney or rooftop to your right. Blocking the sun is always essential if you're looking anywhere close to the sun. WARNING: Never look directly at the sun with your unaided eye or through binoculars or telescopes without special light filters. Severe eye damage can result. Then face due south, and look two-thirds of the way up the sky towards overhead. If the sky is clear, you should be able to clearly see the crescent moon. Look just above the moon, and you should be able to see Venus as a tiny brilliant pinpoint of light."
If you want to see it in the night sky (yawn) then it will appear near the moon and Jupiter for the second night in a row tonight, and at sunset "will appear in the west just to the right of the crescent moon with Jupiter shining below. In the eastern night sky, Mars is also currently visible at night and is unmistakeable due to its reddish hue." Hopefully Death Cab For Cutie's Nick Harmer has his camera ready (did you see his stunning photo of the moon recently?). For the rest of us, to the observatory! Or at least, to somewhere behind a rooftop or chimney. [via The Awl]
