![]() ![]() In astronomy, Venus is “The Morning Star,” being the brightest celestial body in the night sky. Being the lover of lovely things, this goddess is also the protector of artists and favors arts. Being the Goddess of Love and Beauty, Venus favors the lovers and people passionately in love. In Roman mythology, the goddess Venus is famous for her enticing charms. ![]() They will appear closest together on July 1, when they will be separated by just 3.57 degrees.Įditor's Note: If you snap an image of the moon and Saturn, and would like to share it with ’s readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to. A quasi-conjunction is defined as two planets approaching to within 5 degrees of each other - half the width of your clenched fist held at arm's length - without an actual conjunction in right ascension. ![]() In fact, from June 19 through July 10, Mars undergoes a "quasi-conjunction" with Venus as the more brilliant world draws close but never quite catches up. Although seemingly chasing Mars down in the evening sky, the two will never get together. Venus already arrived at its greatest angular distance east of the sun on June 4, so from our viewing perspective it is now swinging around in its orbit and is heading back in the direction of the sun. That scenario, however, will not come to pass. It would also appear that Venus is racing rapidly eastward each night and ultimately will reach the slower moving Mars. The moon will mark the vertex angle with the "legs," measuring roughly 6 degrees, formed by the Regulus/moon and Mars/moon sides of the triangle, and Regulus and Mars separated by roughly 10 degrees marks the base of the triangle. The moon, now a fat crescent nearly five days past new phase, will form a rather wide isosceles triangle with the star Regulus and Mars. Thursday, June 22: The moon joins Mars and Regulus Regulus was noteworthy to ancient skywatchers as it was one of the four "royal" stars which were supposed long ago to rule over the four quarters of the heavens. At magnitude +1.7, Mars now only ranks as a second-magnitude object and shines more than six magnitudes fainter or about 331 times dimmer than Venus! One reason is that Mars is only about half the size of Venus and is currently 200 million miles (322 million km) from Earth compared to just 53 million miles (85 million km) for Venus.Īnd situated about a dozen degrees to the upper left of Mars, is yet another bright twinkler: the bluish 1st-magnitude star Regulus, brightest star of Leo the Lion. You’ll likely need binoculars to see it at all in the bright twilight even after Venus becomes obvious. Of course, once the sun has set and the sky darkens, both the moon and planet will command everyone's attention to the western sky for nearly three hours after sunset.īut Venus is not the only planet that is visible on this night.Ībout 4 degrees to its upper left, appearing to shine rather feebly, will be Mars. (Image credit: Chris Vaughan/Starry Night) This sky map shows the location of the moon near Venus and Mars in June 21, 2023. Finally, well off to the south of the main pair is Castor C, a pair of dim red stars. Furthermore, both A and B are themselves doubles, though much too close to be separated optically (called spectroscopic doubles). In a telescope we see two, Castor A and B. Although it appears as a single star with the unaided eye, it is actually a system of six stars. ![]() Pollux now appears a little over twice as bright as Castor and is also one of the 57 standard navigational stars. If true, either Pollux has grown brighter or Castor had faded in the night sky, for there is a noticeable difference between them now. There seems to be some evidence that when they were first chosen to represent the Twins, they actually appeared to be twin stars of equal brightness. And directly above it you should be able to make out two stars, Pollux and Castor, marking the heads of the Twin Brothers, Gemini. There, you will find a slender sliver of a crescent moon, less than two days after new phase. Starting at 45 to 60 minutes after sundown, look low to the west-northwest horizon. The week's skywatching feast begins Monday evening on June 19, the "Juneteenth" holiday in the United States. Want to check out Saturn's rings or the craters of the moon? We recommend the Celestron Astro Fi 102 as the top pick in our best beginner's telescope guide. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |