Moon And Jupiter In Alignment For Mother's Day Treat

If you haven't picked out a Mother's Day gift yet, you can always point toward the sky, with a celestial event taking place this weekend that is sure to be eye-catching.

If you look toward the west-northwest part of the sky, you'll see a crescent moon with just eight percent illumination along with a silvery companion to the right and a little bit lower: Jupiter. A five degree separation will stand between the moon and the planet.

Aside from Venus, Jupiter remains the brightest celestial object in that portion of the sky. After shining impressively for several months, the planet will begin to show less brightly after its appearance this weekend.

If you find this weekend's celestial spectacle not sufficient, take another look toward the end of the month, when you'll see Jupiter, Mercury and Venus team up in a rare grouping within a small space. The event is called a planet trio. Make sure to catch Jupiter passing within one degree of Venus on May 28 before vanishing completely.

The event follows a solar eclipse that took place earlier this week called a "ring of fire." A ring of fire takes place when the moon is outlined by a slim ring of sunlight. The eclipse took place on Thursday May 9 and Friday May 10 and was visible in the South Pacific and parts of Australia. Only safe methods of viewing eclipses should be used when they occur. Though not many were able to see the ring of fire, many were able to view a partial eclipse.

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