Astronomy Down Under

Venus meets Saturn

27 Jun at 16:05 by Wilson

After the Moon - Saturn - Venus conjunction that happened earlier this month, the main event comes on this weekend: Saturn and Venus will be less than a degree apart, very clearly visible in the northwest sky this Sunday soon after sunset (and for a few hours afterwards). Plus, the bright star Regulus is not far away and should make the spectacle even better. It will look like this (click the image for a larger version):

Clearly visible, that is, weather permitting. The forecast for Melbourne on Sunday is “a few showers”, but since the forecast for Monday is “mainly fine”, we can expect a decent weather on Sunday evening. We should have rain every day until then, which should help with the drought, so you can all stop feeling guilty about hoping for good weather on Sunday. If the sky is clear, this event will be visible even from brightly lit cities, and will be even better with binoculars.