Photos of the Day (Week? Summer?): Celestial Meetings

The sky put on a show last night.  Not only was there a beautiful full moon, but Venus and Jupiter came together in a conjunction that takes place just once per year.  And the timing worked: the moon was rising in the east at the same time that the planets were setting in the west, keeping the moon's brilliance from obscuring the planetary show.

I got good photos of each (click on the pictures for larger versions).  First the planets, already clearly visible in the evening sky:

And then the full moon, even brighter, though the background sky was still blue:

Yesterday afternoon, we were thinking that seeing the sky show was going to be a long shot.  We've been in an unusual summer weather pattern with a high pressure system located to the east of us drawing waves of subtropical moisture over California.  We have had clouds (a rarity for mid-summer) in the sky most of the week, gathering density enough twice (this past Saturday and yesterday) to provide a few sprinkles. The rain hasn't been enough to register at our weather station, or to affect the growing season, but those overcast days have provided a nice respite from what has been a hot stretch for us, with high temperatures mostly in the upper 90's and lower 100's, and unusually elevated humidity.

Still, when you know that there is going to be a performance in the night sky, you don't want cloud cover.  When it broke apart around sunset, it gave the feel of a curtain opening at a play.

And the performance turned out to be memorable.