Tag: Venus

Venus Appears in the Sunset

Venus is currently beginning an evening apparition. This evening the planet should be visible about 10° above the setting Sun. At magnitude -4 it should be easy to spot with a good western horizon. The bright planet will spend the remainder of 2013 in the evening sky, with maximum elongation occurring on Oct 31st.

Tonight also features a pairing with a very thin crescent Moon. The Moon will be a mere 1.3% illuminated and be located 2° south of Venus. A very nice pairing indeed!

Look forward to a number of planetary conjunctions in the coming months. With Jupiter approaching solar conjunction and Venus leaving, the two will cross paths nicely.

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, 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.

A Line of Planets in the Dawn

Tomorrow morning, December 10th, you will find a nice lineup of planets in the dawn sky. Mercury, Venus and Saturn will be in a line about 20° long. Adding to the lineup will be a nice crescent Moon, a bit over 10° higher in the sky than Saturn.

The view at 06:00HST will find a 19% illuminated Moon at 38° elevation. Working down the line you will see Saturn at 29° elevation, Venus at 15° elevation and Mercury at 9° elevation. With sunrise not until 06:46HST this will give plenty of time to view, and perhaps photograph, a line of planets in the dawn.

Over the next few days the view will be much the same, with the Moon lower each morning. On December 11th the Moon will sit between Venus and Mercury creating a nice trio.

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.

Venus and Saturn

Over the coming days, Venus and Saturn will rendezvous in the dawn. Already drawing close, the pair is separated by less than 4° this morning. Close approach will be on the morning of the 26th when the separation will be only 40 arc-minutes. The two will remain close for about a week, the separation having grown to over 4° on the morning of the 30th.

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.

Venus and Regulus

This morning finds Venus just 2° from the bright star Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo. Tomorrow the pair will be much closer, about 42′. On the morning of October 3rd the separation will be much closer, a mere 29′. Despite its being among the brighter stars in the sky, Regulus is no match for Venus. The star’s 1.3 magnitude is vastly dimmer than the planet at -4.1 magnitude.