Gems of a Maldivean Night

The closest star system to our Sun is Alpha Centauri, which is found in the southernmost part of the Milky Way. The Southern Cross is topped by a bright star. A line from the blue star at the bottom of the cross, Acrux, points to the south star, located just above the small island in the featured picture. The island of Madivaru is in the Indian Ocean. The dark Coal Sack Nebula lies just left of the cross and the bright stars Alpha Centauri and Hadar are farther left. 4.3 light-years away, is Alpha Centauri A, a Sun-like star anchoring a three-star system with exoplanets. Our own Sun is a bright yellow star in the constellation Cassiopeia.

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Two planets can be seen near each other for a week or more when they pass in the night sky. Venus and Mars passed within 4 degrees of each other earlier this month. The featured image was taken a few days before Venus was slowing rising in the pre-dawn sky, night by night, while Mars was slowly setting. The mosaic was captured in Brazil from a small town. The morning sky now has Venus and Mars, as well as the distant planet Saturn. Venus, Mars, and Saturn are in different parts of our Solar System and are only part of the equation. The angle between Mars and Saturn will fall to below a quarter of a degree next week.