Eight Sisters Conjunction Tonight

No social distancing here, a grand conjunction between Venus and the Pleiades will take place tonight.

When the sun sets tonight head outside. You’ll be able to easily pick out Venus, shining exceptionally bright in the western sky, but this time it is joined by some friends. Every eight years Venus passes near or directly through the brightest star cluster in the sky: the Pleiades. The Pleiades, widely known as the Seven Sisters, is an open star cluster located around 450 million light years from Earth. The seven sisters terminology comes from the seven brightest stars in the cluster that are easily visible with the naked eye. In reality the cluster consists of upwards of 1,000 stars of which 14 are visible without magnification under the right conditions.

The shape of the cluster closely resembles the big dipper, which has also given it the colloquial name “the littlest dipper”. Regardless of what you call it, the cluster is a stunning spot in the night sky during the winter and early Spring.

Tonight, Venus and the Pleiades will make a very close approach, with Venus appearing to be part of the cluster despite the vast difference in distance between the two. The conjunction will officially be 0.25 degrees between the two objects. No telescope will be needed to see this one, although some magnification will aid in making a truly dazzling sight. Even just a pair of binoculars will show much more detail in the cluster and Venus shining nearby.

If you do have a pair of binoculars or telescope you may notice that Venus doesn’t appear to be exactly round. It should appear to be a half disc. This is because, just like the moon, Venus has phases. Because it lies between us and the sun, it goes through phases during it’s orbit, even showing up as a thin crescent as it draws closer to the sun. Despite not being fully illuminated it still shines as the brightest object in the night sky and will continue to do so in the months ahead as it sinks quickly in the western sky at dusk.

So for those of you who have been following the quarantine orders at home: take a moment to step outside and see the show this evening after sunset!

 

 

Cover Photo by Shlomo Shalev on Unsplash

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