Venus and Saturn have a close approach
Venus and Saturn at 6 pm on Thursday 28 June 2007, drawn by Nick Lomb
Rikta asks:
Hi nick, everyday above Saturn is a star? Can u tell me its name.But I know to the left of Saturn is Regulus.This star, and the planers Saturn and Venusmake a beatiful line up every night in the north-west?
Yes Rikta, for the last few weeks we have had a line up of the planets Venus and Saturn with the star Regulus in the north-west sky. This majestic display will culminate over the next few evenings as the two planets become closer in the sky. They will be closest on Sunday 1 July when Venus will pass Saturn at a separation of less than two moon-widths. Over the following evenings Venus and Saturn will change places with Saturn moving higher in the sky than Venus.
I am not sure to which star that Rikta refers, but the faint star above and to the left of Saturn is 14-Omicron Leonis, while the faint star above and to the right is 30-Eta Leonis.
In any case, for those who have a clear sky over the next few evenings the display in the north-west is worth watching. Dust off your binoculars for they will help and the encounter is a great chance to take photos. Just make sure that the camera is firmly supported and that a cable release or the self-exposure timer is used so as to avoid camera shake during the relatively long exposures needed for sky photography. Of course, don’t use a flash unless you specifically want to include the foreground in the picture.
5 Responses to “Venus and Saturn have a close approach”
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ingrid on July 4th, 2007
hi, I have noticed a very bright star in the sky in the last few nights (3rd july 2007) with a faint star beneath it. I do not know anything about stars but they do definitely interest me when I am star gazing. Can you tell me what these stars are and there relevance or current purpose as they are very visible.
Nick Lomb on July 6th, 2007
Hello Ingrid. The bright one is the planet Venus and the fainter one is the ringed planet Saturn.
Ingrid on July 9th, 2007
Nick,
Thank you so much for your response the planets are currently above our house in Geelong and are extremely visable. Thanks again.
Kenny on May 7th, 2009
I have been in Sydney Australia for the past two weeks and have noticed the same bright light in the morning between 3:00 AM and 7:00 AM. It is not visible until around 3:00 AM in the morning. I have asked around but no one could tell me what the light is. Thanks so much for clearing this up. I assume it is traveling across Sydney which is why it is not visible untilthe early hours of the morning.
Nick Lomb on May 8th, 2009
Hello Kenny. You are looking at the planet Venus. Below it is another planet, Mars, while above is Jupiter. To find out what can be seen in the night sky listen to the monthly podcasts on this blog site, always posted near the beginning of the month or listen to the transcript.