The Moon and Jupiter

WCA member Dennis Havel sent me this cool photo of the moon and Jupiter taken a few nights ago. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. Apparently, this is the closest that the two bodies will appear to each other until 2026. The phenomenon that causes the planets to look so close is called an appulse. That is an event that is caused by perspective rather than a change is the actual distance between the two. The moon is roughly 248,700 miles from the earth and Jupiter is 413.8 million miles away, Cool image Dennis, thanks for sending!