THE CRESCENT PHASE OF VENUS

After a prominent evening apparition, the bright planet VENUS is sinking toward the western horizon, as seen in the evenings after sunset. After appearing as the “Evening Star” since wintertime, Venus will vanish into the sunset and be lost in the Sun’s glare for about a week. After that it will emerge from the sunrise, becoming visible as the “Morning… Continue reading

Venus, Mars and the Moon

VENUS, MARS AND THE MOON: Look outside this evening to see the dazzling bright “star” VENUS shining in the evening sky. Notice the fainter, yellowish “star” nearby. This is the planet MARS. You’ll easily find these planets on the evening of Tuesday, January 31 when they are joined by the four-day-old waxing crescent Moon. These three bodies will make a… Continue reading

Venus, Mars and the Moon

MOON AND PLANETS THIS WEEKEND! Mars has put on quite a show in 2016, and the year ends with an extended “visitation” with the bright planet Venus. Spot these blazing “stars” as the waxing crescent Moon passes by this weekend. And then keep your eyes on Venus and Mars as they draw closer and remain close until February, 2017. These… Continue reading

Planetary Conjunction – Venus and Saturn

The first big event in Saturn’s fun year will be a VERY CLOSE conjunction with Venus on the morning of Saturday, January 9.  If you are able to spot these two planets when the Moon was nearby during the week, you should be able to spot them again on Saturday morning when they draw closest.  Saturn is the little “speck”… Continue reading

Lunar Conjunction – Venus and Saturn

The fun begins in 2016 with the morning conjunction of the waning crescent Moon with the bright planet Venus this week, on the morning of Thursday, January 7, before sunrise.  But as a special added bonus, Venus is currently lining up with the planet Saturn, which recently emerged from the sunrise, after being invisibly hidden on the opposite side of… Continue reading

2016: A Year of Lunar and Planetary Conjunctions

Friends, 2015 was a very interesting year for conjunctions of the Moon and planets.  Long-time readers of this newsletter and other experienced sky observers understand that the classical planets are among the brightest objects in the sky, and are brighter that the actual fixed stars. The planet Venus is blazingly bright, the third brightest object in the sky, exceeded in… Continue reading

CLOSE CONJUNCTION/ OCCULTATION OF VENUS BY THE MOON!

  Before sunrise on Monday morning, December 7, there will be a VERY CLOSE conjunction of the “Old Moon” with the blazingly bright planet Venus in the constellation Virgo! The Moon and this bright planet will be sharing the morning sky with the planets Mars and Jupiter! ALASKA AND NW CANADA… But on Monday morning, the waning crescent Moon will… Continue reading

MORNING LUNAR CONJUNCTIONS OF NOVEMBER

MORNING LUNAR CONJUNCTIONS OF NOVEMBER!!!! The waning crescent Moon will swing back into the scene in the first week of November. By then, Venus will be below Mars. Look for the Moon to line up with Jupiter on the morning of Friday, November 6, and with Venus and Mars on Saturday, November 7. KEEP WATCHING CLASSICAL ASTRONOMY TO LEARN ABOUT… Continue reading

Morning Conjunction of Venus and Mars

MORNING CONJUNCTIONS CONTINUE!!!! After its maximum elongation, Venus begins to move toward the east, and will steadily draw closer to the sunrise through June, 2016. The morning dance of the planets of October continues into November when Venus lines up with Mars on the morning of Tuesday, November 3. Keep an eye on Mars into 2016, as it reaches opposition… Continue reading

Morning Conjunction of Venus and Jupiter

MORNING PLANETARY CONJUNCTIONS: On the morning of Sunday, October 25, Venus and Jupiter are lined up in a conjunction, and Mars is still sharing the sky with these brighter objects. On this day, Venus is at its greatest western elongation, and is therefore at its maximum distance from the rising Sun, so these two will be pretty high above the… Continue reading

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