Heavenly Lights

As seen on National Geographic News two celestial diamonds, Venus and Jupiter, shine over the historic Saint Thaddeus monastery, a World Heritage Site, in this starry winter evening of northwest Iran. The beautiful planetary conjunction was an eye-catching view from all around the planet during March 2012. On the imaging date the two worlds-the brightest planets in the Earth Sky- were separated by only three degrees in the sky, or the width of two fingers at arms’ length. The Armenian church is known as one of the most beautiful and historic churches in the Middle East. Click on the second photo to see another photo of this scene.