Smiley face in the night sky
Monday 1 December 2008
8pm - 10pm
On the evening of Monday 1 December we will be cheered by the unusual sight of a smiley face in the western sky. As soon as the sky starts becoming dark around 8pm the bright planet Venus will make up the left eye with the giant planet Jupiter as the right eye. The crescent Moon will form the smiling mouth. The smiley face will improve and become a little more compact during the evening and will remain in the sky until moonset just before 11pm as seen from Sydney. Such a perfect smiley face is a rare sight and this is probably its first appearance in the sky since Harvey Ball devised it as a symbol in 1963. However, there was an upside-down sad face visible on the morning of 23 April 1998. In the past conjunctions of planets and other celestial alignment were thought to foreshadow disaster and other major events. No such fears need to be entertained this time. There won't be another configuration of crescent Moon and planets like this until 2036.


Link....http://www.sydneyobservatory.com.au/events/whatson.asp