Venus' visit with Hyades' stars

Event Date: June 29th
Time: 5:00 AM

Brief

   Yesterday, I showed Venus "visiting" stars in the Hyades star cluster, which is nothing new: it does this occasionally when it reaches this part of the sky, since the cluster is just a little south of the ecliptic.  This year is a little unusual, however as a result of Venus finishing retrograde while within the Hyades.  Because of this, it means that we get to see it within the cluster for several days, and close to several stars visible to the unaided eye.
  The first image shows Venus' orbit, which "swung" it as many as 7º north of the ecliptic in the late winter, to about 4º south of it this week.  Jupiter is labeled also, with the planets only a day from their peak of conjunction July 1st: 4.8º for that day.

Detailed

   Unfortunately, after Venus leaves the cluster during pro-grade, we don't see it in this part of the sky again for about another two years.  It does get close to the Hyades in about 10 months, yet at that time, the Sun will be in the way and Venus only past superior conjunction by a few weeks.  The next time to easily see Venus near the cluster, for when it will not be as close, yet still a good pairing, will be almost exactly two years from now: June 27-30, 2014.
   Bringing ourselves back to 2012, here is one more look at Venus within the cluster.  The second image shows the planet and cluster's stars, using a binocular field of view, at 9ª.  At 16' arc-minutes from Venus this morning, 4.8 magnitude star Delta2 Tauri, is the star closest to Venus.  It will likely require binoculars to easily see both together, considering with the eye alone, Venus' glare will make it very hard to see Delta2, even with a very dark sky.

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.