STARGAZER #455 for June 16, 2007

Venus Closes in On Saturn

Hopefully you've been noticing Venus, the brilliant "evening star"
dominating the western sky the past several months. Even from light-polluted
urban
areas it's hard to miss.

Less obvious is nearby Saturn to its upper left. Although ten times larger
than Venus, it is much further away and not nearly as bright, yet it still
outshines most stars.

It will be especially fun watching these two planets over the next couple of
weeks as they pull closer each night until the evenings of June 30 and July
1 when Venus passes less than one degree (two moonwidths) below the ringed
planet. When at their closest the sight should be dazzling, and even more
impressive in binoculars and absolutely awesome in a wide-angle telescope.

But there's even more to the show. Tomorrow evening the crescent Moon is
five moonwidths to the lower right of the Beehive cluster with Venus further to
the upper left. (Being between Venus and the Moon, seeing the fainter cluster
will probably require binoculars.) The Moon is then between the planets
Monday evening, and within one moonwidth from Leo's brightest star Regulus
Tuesday evening.

When Venus passes Saturn they will appear to be nearly touching each other,
yet looks are deceiving. In fact, Venus is much closer to us with Saturn 18
times further from Venus than we are.

Planets which make no light are seen only because they reflect sunlight.
Venus' nearness to us, along with its proximity to the Sun and its greater
reflectivity, makes it appear much brighter than the larger, but far more
distant
planets--Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

The show doesn't end July 1. As Venus pulls away from Saturn, it will
approach and then July 10-14 pass four moonwidths below Regulus. By then,
however,
it will be sinking into the setting sun, and after passing between the Sun
and Earth, will start its stint as the "morning star" in early September.

In the religion of the ancient Greeks and Romans, Aphrodite (Venus) was the
goddess of love and beauty. Cronus (Saturn) was the father of Zeus (Jupiter),
god of the heavens and earth. According to one story, Jupiter was the father
of Venus, making Saturn her grandfather. Thus with Jupiter now in the
southeastern evening sky, we have a three-generation family reunion.

Next Two Weeks. Average sunrise: 6:25 a.m.; average sunset: 8:37 p.m. (for
Waco, TX)

* Thursday is the Northern hemisphere's summer solstice--the beginning of
summer, and the year's longest day and shortest night.
* The Moon is at 1st quarter Friday.
* The evening of June 28 a bright gibbous Moon leads Scorpius' brightest
star, Antares, across the sky all night, pulling within two moonwidths just
before they set around 4 a.m. Jupiter is looking down on them from above.

Naked-eye Planets. (The Sun, Moon and planets rise in the east and set in
the west due to Earth's west-to-east rotation.) Evening: Saturn and Venus are
in the west with Jupiter the brightest object in the southeast. Morning: Mars
is well up in the east as Jupiter sets in the west.


Public Star Party Tonight: The Central Texas Astronomical Society hosts a
public program and star party tonight at Reynolds Creek Park amphitheater
beginning at 8:30 p.m., weather permitting. Call me if the weather is
questionable. (CANCELED as rain is predicted!)


=======================================================

Stargazer appears every other week in the Waco Tribune-Herald and other
Texas newspapers. Paul Derrick is an amateur astronomer who lives in Waco.
Write him at 918 N. 30th St., Waco, TX 76707, call or fax at (254) 753-6920, or
e-mail at paulderrickwaco@....

Copyright 2007 by Paul Derrick. Permission is granted for free electronic
distribution as long as these paragraphs are included. Please obtain
permission from the author for publication in any other form. To be added to
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removed from) the free e-mail distribution list, send your e-mail address (and
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* * See the Stargazer Web site at http://www.stargazerpaul.com. * *



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