                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2026 June 12

                 Venus and Jupiter: Conjunction from Avebury
                     Image Credit & Copyright: Josh Dury

   Explanation: To see Venus and Jupiter together this month, you won't
   need binoculars or even a telescope. Just look up after sunset and
   you'll find them emerging as the sky grows dark near the western
   horizon. In fact, on June 9 the two brightest planets were in close
   conjunction, separated on the sky by less than 2 degrees from our
   perspective. Since (brighter) inner planet Venus orbits the Sun faster
   than outer planet Jupiter, it catches up with and passes the outer
   planet along the ecliptic roughly every 13 months. But every three
   years or so their resulting conjunction can be viewed far enough from
   the Sun to be easily seen in Earth's twilight skies. On June 9, the two
   celestial beacon's close "cosmic kiss" was captured here next to the
   two large standing stones at the cove within a 4,000 year old stone
   circle at Avebury, UK. Larger than Stonehenge, the Avebury henge and
   stone circle complex is also recognized as one of the most significant
   neolithic ceremonial sites on planet Earth.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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