Australia Gets a Smiley Face Sky

On Monday, a rare alignment of the planets created a vision similar to a smiley face, consisting of Venus and Jupiter as eyes, above a cresent moon in the shape of a smiling mouth.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on December 02 2008

Smile, and the whole world smiles with you—or, if you live in Australia, maybe even the whole universe. On Monday, a rare alignment of the planets created a vision similar to a smiley face, consisting of Venus and Jupiter as eyes, above a cresent moon in the shape of a smiling mouth.

Astronomists were excited by the prospect of the galactic grin. “I think it will be very spectacular,” Sydney Observatory’s astronomer, Nick Lomb, told the Sydney Morning Herald. “The three brightest objects in the night sky will all be in the same patch of the sky.”

The Sydney Observatory remained open to visitors, so curious stargazers could get a better look at the sky smile, which is a rare phenomenon—the unique positioning of the planets will not happen again until July 21st, 2036.

See a photo of the celestial smile here.

Filed under: Science, Weird,

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