Cheshire Cat Conjunction

For much of the winter Mars has held position in the evening sky, setting around 8 pm. At the same time bright Venus has been moving higher in the western sky, climbing out of the sunset twilight and passing Mars in February. On the 21st of February Mars and Venus were separated by less than half a degree, a close conjunction. The day before the pair were joined by a very thin crescent moon, making a very photogenic grouping in the night sky. The pairing of Venus and the dimmer Mars looked to many like eyes over a smile- Alice’s Cheshire Cat, nearly invisible except it’s smile.