Moon, Venus, Jupiter April 23, 1998. This photograph shows a close conjunction of the Moon and the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter. They rose gracefully together in the early morning sky.

Venus (the brighter of the two planets) and Jupiter were less than three degrees from the Moon, and only half a degree from each other — just a Moon width apart. Close groupings like this happen only rarely, and are worth getting up early to enjoy.

This photograph was used by the Hayden Planetarium on their blog to discuss a similar conjunction that occurred on December 1, 2008.

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