NOON CONJUNCTION: Mercury, Jupiter and the Pleiades are converging for a beautiful three-way conjunction. Unfortunately, it’s happening in broad daylight. The two planets and the star cluster are only a few degrees from the sun. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) photographed the encounter on May 22nd. SOHO uses a coronagraph to block the glare of the sun, revealing what the human eye cannot see. Later today, Mercury and Jupiter will pass in the noon sky less than 1/3rd a degree apart. Join SOHO for a ringside seat.
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Incontro stellare oggi 22 Maggio 2012, che vede la congiunzione fra Mercurio, Giove e l’ammasso stellare delle sette sorelle: le Pleiadi. Sfortunatamente il bellissimo spettacolo di questo incontro a tre avviene durante le ore diurne, quindi ci affidiamo alle immagini della sonda SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) che ne riporta l’evento.
Image/Credit: sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov