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Astrophoto: Jupiter Meets Moon Halo

By Nancy Atkinson - January 15, 2014 11:03 AM UTC | Planetary Science

Last night, the Moon and Jupiter snuggled up together in the evening sky, passing within 4°51' of each other. Folks in Ankara, Turkey got an added benefit to the conjunction, a gorgeous lunar halo. This shot by M. Rasid Tugral is just lovely. The duo stayed together through the night, and you MUST see below for another awesome view of the conjunction at dawn as seen from Pennsylvania in the US:

So many things make this such a great photo: the conjunction, of course, but the colors, the shadow of the photographer, and the landscape all combine for a simply stunning image.

Thanks to both of our photographers for sharing, and you can always see more great astrophotos at our Flickr page.

If you're looking for more conjunctions with the Moon, there are a couple coming up: On Wednesday, Jan 22, 2014 mars will be near the Moon, and on Saturday January 25, 2014 the Moon will meet up with Saturn. Find out more at In-The-Sky.org.

Want to get your astrophoto featured on Universe Today? Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email (this means you're giving us permission to post them). Please explain what's in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com