Today Mercury passes through superior conjunction, passing behind the Sun as seen from the Earth. The planet will appear in the sunset early next month, reaching maximum elongation on February 16th.
Tag: conjunction
The Moon and Venus
Tomorrow morning will find a razor thin crescent Moon about 5° from a brilliant Venus just above the rising Sun. The Moon will rise about 05:50HST, with Venus already in the sky. With sunrise at 06:59HST the pair should rise about 13° above the sunrise. This is enough to allow the the Moon, only 1.9% illuminated to be spotted fairly easily given a clear eastern horizon.
The Moon and Saturn
Tomorrow morning will find a nice crescent Moon near Saturn. The Moon will be 33% illuminated and about 5° away from the ringed planet shining at 0.6 magnitude. The pair will rise about 1:40HST and be high in the sky by dawn.
The Moon and Mars
A very thin crescent Moon will be near Mars tonight. The Moon, only 5% illuminated, with be about 6° away from the Moon. The pair will be about the same elevation, 23° above the horizon at sunset.
The Moon, Mercury and Venus
Tomorrow morning, December 11th, a nice trio will see three bright objects create a close 6° triangle. Lowest of the three will be Mercury, shining brightly at -0.6 magnitude, at about 18° elevation at sunrise. About 4° above Mercury will be a nice 4% illuminated crescent Moon. Above the Moon will be Venus, shining at -3.9 magnitude it will be very hard to miss. About 16° above the trio you can find Saturn, making three bright planets in the dawn. This conjunction should be worth setting the alarm clock early for.
Venus and Saturn
Tomorrow morning, November 26th, will see a very close rendezvous of Venus and Saturn in the dawn. The two will be less than a degree apart, with a separation of only 40 arc-minutes. This will put both planets in the same low power telescopic view. The pair will rise about 04:30HST and be well up, nearly 30° above the horizon, at sunrise.
This is a mismatched pair, with Venus dominating the view at a brilliant -4.0 magnitude. Saturn will be far dimmer at 0.6 magnitude.
The Moon and Mars
A thin crescent Moon will be about 5.5° from Mars tonight. The Moon will be a thin crescent, only 8% illuminated. The pair will be about the same elevation, 25° above the horizon at sunset.
The Moon and Mars
Low in the evening sky a thin crescent Moon will be just 6° below Mars tonight. The Moon, only 10% illuminated, will be below and to the north of the planet. Tomorrow the pair will still be close, but the Moon will be above the planet.
Mercury and Saturn
As Mercury rises further from the Sun each day, Saturn is currently sliding into the sunset heading for superior conjunction. The two will pass each other on October 3rd through October 6th. The pair will be closest on October 4th, at a bit over 3° separation. The 5th will see the two quite close at about 3.5° separation. There will be about a magnitude difference in brightness between the two, with Mercury at -0.27 magnitude and Saturn at 0.69 magnitude. At about 15° above the horizon at sunset this will make for a nice pairing in the dusk.
The Moon and Mars
A crescent Moon will be about 4.5° from Mars tonight. Look below the Moon for a reddish, 1st magnitude object to find Mars.