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Venus Returns as the “Morning Star”

September 11, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

Venus, Mars, and Jupiter rise in the eastern sky before sunrise as seen on September 12, 2015. (Made with SkySafari 4).

The planet Venus has returned to the sky at a “morning star”, shining brightly in the eastern sky before sunrise in the constellation Cancer, the Crab. Venus is by far the brightest object in the sky except for the Sun and Moon. It shines at magnitude -4.5, nearly as bright as it gets, and spans about 44″ when seen in a telescope. The face of the planet is a magnificent slender crescent shape just 18% illuminated by the Sun.

Venus is joined by Jupiter, which rises a little later and shines a little fainter. The two planets made a dramatic display in the evening sky earlier in 2015 and will now dominate the morning sky for the rest of the year. Too low in the sky to reveal much detail, Jupiter is still worth a look in binoculars or a small telescope, if just to see its fat disk and its four biggest moons make their way around the big planet. The planet now appears about 31″ across, much smaller than Venus, but fully illuminated.

Between the two bright planets, you also see the ochre glow of Mars, still relatively faint at magnitude +1.8 and just 3.8″ across. It’s far too small and distant to reveal any detail in a telescope. The planet will slowly brighten over the next 8 months on the way to opposition in May 2016. Just below Mars, closer to Jupiter, you see the icy white star Regulus in the constellation Leo, shining slightly brighter at magnitude +1.4.

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Close Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on June 30, 2015

June 24, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

Venus, Jupiter, and the crescent Moon in the western sky after sunset on June 19, 2015. The two bright planets will come within 0.3 degrees of each other on June 30, 2015.

The bright planets Venus and Jupiter have been moving closer together for weeks, and on June 30, 2015, they make their closest approach when they pass less than a full-Moon-width from each other in the western sky after sunset. This beautiful conjunction of two bright planets is an ideal time for a photo-op and an great opportunity to see the clockwork motion of the solar system in action.

The two planets will fit together in the same low-power field of view in a telescope, and remarkably, they will appear the same size. Venus is a tiny crescent, bright and featureless, while Jupiter displays cloud bands and its four biggest moons. While each spans about 32 arc-seconds in apparent size, in real terms Jupiter is 12x larger and 12x farther away. If the skies are in your favor, wander out and see this remarkable conjunction in the western sky after sunset on June 30 and July 1. It’s visible from the northern and southern hemispheres.

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Venus, Jupiter, the Moon, and a Solstice

June 18, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

Jupiter-Venus-062015 Venus and Jupiter continue to move together each night on the way to their closest encounter on June 30, 2015. This weekend the two planets are still 6º apart, but stargazers may get their best photo opportunity during this conjunction as the two planets are joined by a slender crescent Moon in the western sky after sunset on June 19-20. Venus and Jupiter form a straight line with the bright white star Regulus in the constellation Leo to the east, while Castor and Pollux in Gemini linger to the west. In a telescope, brilliant Venus now appears as a thick crescent while Jupiter, which appears smaller and fainter, still shows its cloud bands and four bright moons.

And on June 21, 2015 at 16:39 UT, the Sun appears to stand still at its most northerly point in the sky. This marks the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere and the beginning of northern summer. At the same time, winter begins in the southern hemisphere as the days begin to grow longer and the world slowly moves from darkness to light.

(Image at top captured from SkySafari 4 Plus)

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Venus Brightens

May 13, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Solar System

Venus, Jupiter, and the Beehive star cluster imaged on May 13, 2015 from Ottawa, Canada

Venus continues to brighten in the western sky after sunset this month. It’s caught under the feet of the constellation Gemini in the northern Milky Way not far from the splendid open star cluster M35 at mid-month. A pair of binoculars shows both in the same field of view. The bright planet reached its highest point above the horizon on May 8 and now slowly moves back towards the horizon each night on its way to an extremely close and photogenic encounter with Jupiter at the end of June [Read more…] about Venus Brightens

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Venus, the Hyades, and the Pleiades at Sunset

April 12, 2015 by Brian Ventrudo Filed Under: Deep Sky, Solar System

Venus-Pleiades-2

The brilliant planet Venus is just over 2° from the Pleiades star cluster, while the V-shaped Hyades star cluster, which makes up much of the constellation Taurus, is to the left of Venus in this image. The constellation Orion is at extreme left. This image taken after sunset over the Ottawa River on a pleasant spring night on April 12, 2015.

Shining at magnitude -4.1 for most of the month, Venus is easy to find high above the western horizon as the Sun goes down. It outshines every object in the sky except for the Sun and Moon. The planet moves a little higher each night until early June.

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