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Event Description:
We have an amazing close conjunction between Jupiter & Venus
occurring on Saturday August 27, 2016. This follows an
October 26, 2015 conjunction and a very close June 30, 2015
conjunction. The planets will be separated by less than
0.07° this Saturday, easily seen in the same telescopic
field of view. The only problem is the planets are very
close to the Sun; so sunset viewing of this event is
practically not possible. However, during the day, the two
planets are viewable through the 16" observatory telescope.
If conditions permit, Venus will appear as a bright nearly
full disk and Jupiter will appear as a faint disk with
equatorial bands just visible. The two planets in the same
field of view should be quite a spectacular sight. One
explanation of the "Star of Bethlehem is an extremely close
conjunction between Jupiter & Venus on June 17th in the year
2 B.C. when the planets appeared to merge into one bright
"star". So, our plan is to have a daytime observing session
of the conjunction. The exact timing depends on sky
conditions; we need a cloudless, deep blue sky with low
humidity for best viewing. Cumulus clouds are okay if blue
sky exists between clouds, but overcast or Cirrus clouds are
not good;
that's why the final time of daytime observing event was
decided on Friday for highest possibility of success.
If sky conditions continue to be good, we'll have another
planetary observing event in the evening to observe Mars &
Saturn, as well as other celestial deep sky objects. The
evening star party observing event will start at 8:00pm.
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