Event Date: November 18th
Time: 6:30 AM
Brief
Yesterday, I glazed over the Venus separation with Saturn, as the former slowly closes in with the Sun in separation, and the latter separates further from the Sun. Of course, we are talking about what we witness when having an outer and inner planet, seen west of the Sun. As the days of fall pass, we get to see them approach each other for an excellent conjunction not far away. By plotting yesterday's celestial path of Saturn, it showed the position of the planet against the stars. This time however, let's also show the local path of both planets, as we view each relative to the horizon at the same time each day over a span of 30 days. Much closer Venus' increment markers will be more separated than Saturn's for the celestial path (orange) in image 1. However, for the local path (green), we see a different separation pattern of them, in image 2.
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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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Detailed
By looking at image one, it is easy to let the separation of the markers deceive a person to think that these planets are in a "tortoise and the hare" type of race, with Venus catching up with Saturn and passing it by; that is exactly what will happen...although there is no finish line with no unprecedented winner
Enough of that however, getting back to the paths themselves. Looking at the second image, we see how each day, the two have their paths coming from different directions. Nearby, we see Spica, where the two will meet for their conjunction. Spica will not be part of the same conjunction, yet make an arc with the planets in a couple of days. Naturally, this arc will be much smaller than the one we see it forming with Arcturus and the Big Dipper's handle, mentioned at an earlier date for this blog.
Although there will not be an occultation of Saturn by Venus, as extremely rare as that is anyway. The two planets will pass by the same altitude/azimuth of the sky, about this time on November 27th. If they were further separated, these lines would never cross, yet be parallel with each other, covering the span of several days....even more rare than an occultation!
Enough of that however, getting back to the paths themselves. Looking at the second image, we see how each day, the two have their paths coming from different directions. Nearby, we see Spica, where the two will meet for their conjunction. Spica will not be part of the same conjunction, yet make an arc with the planets in a couple of days. Naturally, this arc will be much smaller than the one we see it forming with Arcturus and the Big Dipper's handle, mentioned at an earlier date for this blog.
Although there will not be an occultation of Saturn by Venus, as extremely rare as that is anyway. The two planets will pass by the same altitude/azimuth of the sky, about this time on November 27th. If they were further separated, these lines would never cross, yet be parallel with each other, covering the span of several days....even more rare than an occultation!
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