The planet show in the western sky is approaching its climax, and one day before the closest approach of Venus to Jupiter, we were favored with clear skies.  This configuration of the two is in some ways the most interesting because for our latitude and longitude, they are almost exactly the same height above the horizon, making a narrower, brighter pair in contrast to Castor and Pollux.  A little bonus is that Mercury makes a double-star like appearance next to ε Geminorum near the horizon.  The separation between Venus and Jupiter is 2°20' this evening.  Unannotated image.