Planets align for Sydney Observatory’s 2008 Festival of the Stars

The view from Sydney at dusk on Friday 4 July 2008 – Venus, the crescent Moon, Mars and Saturn, drawing by Nick Lomb

Tonight, Friday 4 July 2008, is our first opportunity to see the bright planet Venus return to the evening sky since it moved into the morning sky in mid August 2007. We have to be quick though as Venus sets below the western horizon at 5:27 pm, which is only 29 minutes after sunset. A very thin crescent Moon is above Venus.

Venus and the Moon just form the prelude to the evening as they have both set by the time Sydney Observatory’s 2008 Festival of the Stars gets under way. Details of the Festival are here. Observable during the Festival though are Mars and Saturn that form a nice pair further up the western sky just near the bright star Regulus. It is worth keeping an eye on these two planets over the next few nights as Mars is slowly approaching Saturn and will pass by it on 10 and 11 July 2008.

During the Festival there will plenty of telescopes at the Observatory for visitors to see Saturn’s wonderful rings and, over in the east, to look at bright Jupiter and see its cloud belts and its four largest moons, Io, Europa, Callisto and Ganymede.

With many structures and buildings in the City and North Sydney dimming their lights and the planets lining up, this year’s two-night Festival of the Stars is shaping up to be the best so far.