Conjunction of Moon & Jupiter April 2016

Conjunction Background: Occasionally, two or more objects meet up with each other in our sky. Astronomers use the word conjunction to describe these meetings. The word conjunction comes from Latin, meaning to join together.
In astronomy, a conjunction occurs when two astronomical objects or spacecraft appear to be close to each other in the sky.
This means they have either the same right ascension or the same ecliptic longitude, usually as observed from Earth.
When two objects always appear close to the ecliptic—such as two planets, the Moon and a planet, or the Sun and a planet—this fact implies an apparent close approach between the objects as seen in the sky.
A related word, appulse, is the minimum apparent separation in the sky of two astronomical objects.
Conjunctions involve either two objects in the Solar System or one object in the Solar System and a more distant object, such as a star. A conjunction is an apparent phenomenon caused by the observer's perspective: the two objects involved are not actually close to one another in space.
Conjunctions between two bright objects close to the ecliptic, such as two bright planets, can be seen with the naked eye.
You can keep up to date with upcoming conjunctions by visiting 'Earthsky.org'

Description: The Moon and Jupiter share the same right ascension, with the Moon passing 1°56' to the north of Jupiter.
At around the same time, the two objects will also make a close approach, technically called an appulse.
The Moon at mag -10.6, and Jupiter at mag -1.8, both in the constellation Virgo.
The pair were too widely separated to fit within the field of view of a telescope, but were visible to the naked eye or through a pair of binoculars.

Conjunction of Moon & Jupiter

Imaging Details

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