Venus approaching Virgo stars

Event Date: November 5th

Time: 5:30 PM

Brief

   A couple of days ago, I revisted Venus, nearing the double star Porrima.  Today and tomorrow, we see them nicely paired together, with a separation of 1.3º this morning, low in the east-southeast.  Tomorrow, they are a little closer together, and separate quickly after that as Venus continues to move quickly in pro-grade motion.

   The first image shows the two zoomed out while the second shows them zoomed in with a 2º field.  The first also includes Spica, which Venus will pass next in a little less than 2 weeks, a little further than from Porrima.

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

Detailed

   At the current separation, Venus is easy enough to see with the eye alone provided that the sky is dark enough.  If they are too close, as we saw in the case of Venus and Regulus about 5 weeks ago, the brightness of Venus gives a "multi-starpoint" effect, glaring in the way of most stars of magnitude +1.0 and dimmer.  While a little further apart, that glare doesn't get in the way.

   As also seen in image two, is a 6.9 magnitude [HIP-catelog] star that Venus passed by, with a peak close to 0.2º when the two were below the horizon.  Now, we see Venus slightly further from that star.  Although I didn't label it, I bring this to readers' attention, since Venus may still have some fine telescopic close-encounters with background stars before we lose it to the glare of the Sun.  If you know which stars after Spica are close the the ecliptic, can you figure out which ones that it will pass and how closely?  Keep in mind the change in ecliptic latitude for Venus and see how many you are right with when predicting!