Venus and Neptune

Over the next few days Venus will swing quite close to Neptune. Today the pair is separated by 2°41′. This will decrease to 49′ on the 11th and remain close at 51′ on the 12th.

The pair is quite a mismatch… Neptune is a mere 7.9 magnitude while Venus is a brilliant -4.2, over 60,000 times brighter. The 4.8 magnitude star σAqr will be 1.5° southwest of the two, the only nearby object that can be confused for the planet.

Next month, on May 15th, Venus will pass about 1° from to Uranus for a similar oddball conjunction.

Author: Andrew

An electrical engineer, amateur astronomer, and diver, living and working on the island of Hawaiʻi.

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