Venus and Jupiter!

Thanks to a cold front, the clouds moved through and the night is supposed to be clear- for a while.

Venus and Jupiter were very plainly visible just after sunset... and they looked exactly like the star charts said they would! What a thrill!

This is looking to the west at sunset:

To the right of the moon is Jupiter and then Venus. They are difficult to see in the fading sunlight in this photo.

Here is another:

In this photo, Venus is the sphere in the middle. Jupiter is all the way to the left of the photo.

I am going to try to get another photo after night falls, but even if the clouds move back in, I am happy. The photos do not do this justice. Step outside and look to the west!

Added later:

The moon, Jupiter and Venus. Snapped with an older cell phone's camera, just to show that astronomy is still fun without any fancy equipment. You can see the crescent of light on Venus. I'm very happy.

Another interesting thing: it was very evident after dark that we were not looking at stars. Regulus was twinkling between Jupiter and the moon (it's not visible in the photos), and the contrast between it and the steady reflected light of the planets was obvious. Another fun astronomy night!