When you want to see the stars, find someplace dark
With the Moon only a few degrees from Venus this afternoon, it should be relatively easy to spot the brilliant planet long before sunset.
Today the Moon will aid finding Venus in the sky as it is about 5° north of the Moon. Having the Moon nearby will not only aid in locating the Planet, it will also provide your eyes something to focus on.
Of course these bright objects will be even more dramatic after sunset when Mars will also be visible nearby.
The Moon is approaching the pair of Venus and Mars, tomorrow will see the trio in close proximity, forming a triangle of about 5° separation.
On the evening of the 31st, a pretty crescent Moon will join this dance in the sunset, forming a triangle about 5° across. A 16% illuminated crescent moon with make a lovely trio with the bright planets.
Today Venus is at maximum elongation, as high in the sunset sky as it will get for this evening apparition, about 47.1°. After today the planet will begin its slide back into the glare of sunset. It will disappear from view around mid-March and reach inferior conjunction on March 25th, 2017.
As Earth and Venus race about the Sun, Venus will complete about one cycle of appearances each year. We can expect one evening apparition and one morning apparition to occur in 2017.
Look for the two as the evening sky begins to darken, they will not be difficult to find. Tomorrow the Moon will have moved 7° to the east of Venus.
Only once before have I seen Jupiter and Venus this close, many years ago. Being close enough to fit in the same eyepiece field is quite interesting, particularly with enough magnification to see the moons and planet details well.
If you have not been paying attention the evening planet dance is in full swing, Mercury, Venus and Jupiter all in close attendance.
This evening was the close approach of Jupiter and Venus. I set up a telescope briefly to capture the conjunction. More than a little overexposed, but you can see the moons of Jupiter this way…
This evening at sunset a nice crescent Moon and the bright planet Jupiter will be quite close. As sunset around 19:00 the two will be separated by a mere 46′, just a little over the width of the full Moon. The two should make a very attractive pair as they sit above the glow of sunset.
Keep an eye out for Mercury and Venus closer to the horizon. At 19:00 Venus will be 9° above the horizon with Mercury a bit higher at 14°. The Moon and Jupiter will be higher yet around 25°. Since Mars and Saturn are also visible in the southern sky all five naked eye planets will be visible.
A very thin crescent Moon will pair with Venus in the sunset this evening. The Moon will be about 3.5° from Venus, well above the glow of sunset, perfectly placed to create a nice view. With sunset occurring at 18:58 HST, the pair will be 10° above the horizon at 19:00 and will set almost an hour later at 19:48 HST. The Moon will be quite thin, only 1.9% illuminated and only 1.3 days old. Creating a triangle with the pair of solar system bodies, the bright star Regulus will be 2° above Venus, while Mercury will be 8° higher in the sky. Jupiter will also be visible higher in the evening sky making for a nice lineup of bright planets.
For much of the month all five naked eye planets will be visible at sunset. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter can all be seen easily if one knows where to look. Indeed, four of the five are quite bright and quite hard to miss. Neptune and Uranus are generally too faint to be seen without optical aid.
There will be a nice conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter, only 46′ apart, on the 5th of August. Mercury reaches eastern elongation on the 16th of the month. A beautiful triplet of Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter will gather in the days around the 22nd. Keep an eye to the sky for the month to be treated to some nice planetary views.
The two inner planets will rendezvous in the sunset over the next few days. Venus appeared in the sky a few days ago having just emerged from superior conjunction. Mercury will emerge quickly from the solar glare to pass Venus only 10° from the Sun. This conjunction will be quite low and a bit in the bright glow of sunset, perhaps somewhat challenging to spot.
This evening the two will be about 2° apart, and will quickly converge. On July 16th the two will be only 32′ apart, about the diameter of a full Moon. After that the two will quickly separate. Interestingly on the 17th the pair will pass through the M44 star cluster, though perhaps it will still be a bit bright to appreciate this dimmer cluster.
Late in the month this trio of bright planets will continue their dance in a set of conjunctions that lasts into September. The highlight will be on August 27 when Jupiter and Venus will pass within 12′ of each other while Mercury is only 5° away.
