Moon to make closest jump over Jupiter for the year in night sky
A celestial leap is set to take place over two nights as the moon and Jupiter will appear to dance near to each other in the night sky.
The crescent moon will appear "wafer thin" through the night of April 29 as it draws near to the large planet and will make its closest visual approach to Jupiter for the year as it passes over the planet the night of April 30, according to Space.com.
Both celestial bodies will linger in the constellation Taurus Wednesday night, according to Astronomy Magazine.
Both outlets suggest that the moon may be illuminated by Earthshine, where the sunlight reflected off of the Earth reaches the moon.
The celestial interlude was preceded last week by a more whimsical astral phenomenon as the moon, Venus and Saturn put a smile on the night sky.
For between 30 to 40 minutes before sunrise on Friday, April 25, the slender waning crescent moon appeared to left of a bright planet Venus and a much fainter Saturn to create a happy face, according to astronomy news outlet EarthSky.
Earthlings were unable to see the other major planetary phenomenon of the previous week as the closest new supermoon of the year occurred on Sunday, April 27. The moon was nearly 17,000 miles closer to Earth than average − according to EarthSky − but it was not visible on Earth.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jupiter and moon to make closest pass of year in night sky
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