Montana Skies: Venus

If you look up at the evening sky this week, we have two planets fighting for supremacy. Dr. Kelly Cline explains more in this week’s Montana Skies.

If you look up at the evening sky this week, we have two, count them two, planets fighting for supremacy. High up in the South-Southwestern sky, you'll find Jupiter, the uber-planet, biggest of the big, hugest of the huge, more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined.

Jupiter is a monster!  But wait!  What's this?  If you look low down in the Southwestern sky, you'll find Venus shining even more brightly!  How can this be?  Jupiter is 400 times more massive than puny Venus!  How can Venus win the battle of the brightness? 

Venus wins, because Venus is closer!  It only takes about 5 minutes for light to get here from Venus, but Jupiter is so far away that it takes half an hour for light to get here from Jupiter.  Plus, Venus and Jupiter don't give off their own light.  They just reflect light from the Sun. Venus is really close to the Sun, and so it's lit up with really strong, powerful, intense sunlight.  But Jupiter?  Jupiter is 5 times as far from the Sun as we are, and way out there sunlight is really, really weak.  Sunlight is 25 times more intense here on Earth than it is on Jupiter. 

So in the battle for evening brilliance, Jupiter is bright, high in the South-Southwest, but Venus, low in the Southwest is the clear winner. So step outside, and take a look at Venus and Jupiter up in our Beautiful Montana Skies!