Poster Maker: Feng Juan
According to astronomical science experts, in the early morning of April 28, Venus and Neptune met closely, which is a very rare planetary polar phenomenon. At that time, the two brightest and darkest planets in the solar system will stage a wonderful drama of "star attraction".
The actual distance between Venus and Neptune is very far away, and the phenomenon of extreme proximity is actually only a visual effect, which is due to the different speeds of the planets in the solar system, and when two planets appear to be very close in distance and travel to the same Ecliptic Sutra, it is called "conjunction".
Yang Jing, a member of the Chinese Astronomical Society and a director of the Tianjin Astronomical Society, introduced that Venus is the brightest celestial body in the whole day except the sun and the moon, and the maximum brightness can reach -4.9. This time Venus and Neptune, Venus appeared in the posture of "Daystar", with a brightness of -4.2 and so on, which is very eye-catching. Neptune is the farthest and darkest of the eight planets in the solar system, with a brightness of about 8, and it met Jupiter on April 13, this time to Venus "around".
This is Neptune photographed by the Us Voyager 2 probe. (Image source: NASA official website)
The "closest" time of this coincidence occurred at about 3 a.m. on April 28, with an angular distance of only 30 arcseconds, and the phenomenon of "planetary mutual occultation" was almost formed. Unfortunately, the continent cannot be seen, because at this time the double star is still below the horizon and is about to rise. At about 4 a.m., the two rose above the horizon, by which time Neptune and Venus had separated a little, and the angular distance was about 2 arc minutes, of course, this is also a very rare extremely close distance.
Comics Production: Hu Yanzhu
Extremely close, what does it mean? This means that friends who like astrophotography can take Pictures of Venus and Neptune "in the same frame". "Under small astronomical telescopes, the phases of Venus can be clearly seen; Neptune is located in the upper right of Venus, which looks like a very dark little blue dot, which is not easy to spot under the dazzling light of Venus and needs to be carefully searched." Yang Jing said.
This is a close-up of Venus and Neptune taken by Zhou Zhiwei, an astronomy enthusiast in Guangdong Province. (Courtesy of me)
Two planets so "close" is rare and well worth observing. "Since the sky brightens shortly after the two planets rise, the actual observable time is only 30 minutes to 60 minutes. In sunny weather conditions, friends who like astrophotography can find an open, open field of view and no light pollution in the southeast, and try to take them with the help of small astronomical telescopes, which will be a rare astronomical photo. Yang Jing said.
Planner: Liu Xinhui
Reporter: Zhou Runjian
Editors: Chong Dahai, Tang Jianhui
It was co-produced by Xinhua News Agency and Tianjin Branch of Xinhua News Agency
Produced by Starry Sky Studios