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If you were outdoors Monday evening, you almost certainly noticed the two stars surrounding the moon.
That unusual sight actually was a conjunction of the planets Venus and Jupiter. The two planets appeared a bit below the crescent moon for several hours, until they set around midnight.
The planets will be near the moon again this evening -- but not quite as close as Monday night. This evening, according to sky charts, the two planets will be a short distance to the left of the moon. The conjunction will be low in the evening sky, visible from dark until about 8 p.m.
This close arrangement features the three brightest objects in the night sky. Venus is the brightest planet seen on Earth, and Jupiter is second-brightest.
Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, will have another close encounter (in the sky, that is) with a planet this month. On Dec. 31, Jupiter will be very close to Mercury, the smallest planet, in the evening sky.
Also coming this month -- the Geminids meteor shower, which takes place Dec. 13. Unfortunately for sky-watchers, there will be a full moon that night, and astronomers say the moonlight will make it difficult to see some of the meteors.
