Event Date: July 23rd
Time: 4:30 AM
Brief
Venus (-4.8) and Jupiter (-2.1) are 9.8º apart this morning, and only visible together in binoculars with a large enough field. They are almost just as fun to view with the unaided eye, now that they rise well before the Sun, which is starting to move south a little faster each day. It is still well north of the celestial equator however, by almost 20º, a little over a degree south of Jupiter. For an update on positioning, more than anything else, here they are shown below, with the sky almost completely dark during astronomical twilight. This gives us a chance to see the Pleiades star cluster clearly above them (unlabeled), and even the Hyades, once it comes high enough above the horizon.
Time: 4:30 AM
Brief
Venus (-4.8) and Jupiter (-2.1) are 9.8º apart this morning, and only visible together in binoculars with a large enough field. They are almost just as fun to view with the unaided eye, now that they rise well before the Sun, which is starting to move south a little faster each day. It is still well north of the celestial equator however, by almost 20º, a little over a degree south of Jupiter. For an update on positioning, more than anything else, here they are shown below, with the sky almost completely dark during astronomical twilight. This gives us a chance to see the Pleiades star cluster clearly above them (unlabeled), and even the Hyades, once it comes high enough above the horizon.
Detailed
Jupiter is already getting close to its maximum declination for where it is in orbit; close to where the Sun is in late-May/early June. Venus is slightly south of the Sun, yet moving slowly enough in prograde that it is separating quickly from the Sun and nearing greatest eastern elongation. Rising at 3:08 AM, about three hours before the Sun, we see Venus for over an hour above the horizon before it starts to dim with the Sun's light brightening the sky. Jupiter rises 50 minutes before Venus this morning, giving us a chance to see it clearly during dawn, higher in the sky than Venus.
In this second image below, we see Jupiter moving closer to star Epsilon Tauri in the Hyades. Just as Venus had some close encounters with some of the easier-to-see stars in the cluster earlier this season, Jupiter passes near some of them as well. This morning, they can be seen with binoculars or a wide-field telescope 1.8º apart. The Hyades stick-figure is drawn out, and the field is 7º. With this large a field, the entire "V" shape of the Hyades can fit, for those wanting to see it that way with Jupiter fitting as well.
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| click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp. |
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