Jupiter between Venus and Moon

Event Date: June 16th
Time: 5:34(.30) AM

Brief

   At precisely the time above, we see the Moon close in enough to Jupiter, that the giant planet is exactly between it and Venus.  The separation from both is about 8.9º, although seeing it a few minutes before or after will appear the same.  I am showing Jupiter exactly centered only to show how interesting it is!  Below, here is how they appear, with Venus still emerging a little more each day from the Sun.

Detailed

  Since the Moon moves about one diameter per hour (about 1/2º) west to east against the stars, it spends the rest of the day catching up with Jupiter further.  In some locations towards the opposite side of the world, the Moon is seen occulting Jupiter.  As the second image below shows, with the ecliptic and the Moon's orbit visible, Jupiter is seen very close to the the path of the Moon.  I doubled the view from full zoom to 50% to show the [arrow-shaped] node more clearly.

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

*Some parts of the world may see the crescent phase of our satellite either graze Jupiter, or pass anywhere from one to several arc-minutes away.  Since the Moon passes Jupiter while both are below the horizon for our location, we miss the close encounter.  However, when we feature the two with Venus tomorrow, we still get a very good presentation of the three!