On Sunday evening, January 22, solar system planets Saturn and Venus will meet in the night sky to make a close approach. Luckily, sky watchers who don’t want to face the bitter cold of January can watch the match from the comfort of their homes.
The Virtual Telescope Project will publish the close approach and the arrangement known as the “conjunction”. Venussecond planet from the sun and Saturn, the second largest planet in the solar system. The live broadcast will begin as the distance between the two planets will be less than the angular size of the full moon and less than half a degree apart at arm’s length, equivalent to half a finger’s width.
The live broadcast of the Venus and Saturn conjunction of the Virtual Telescope Project will begin at 20:00. 13:30 EST (1830 GMT) Sunday (January 22) and can be viewed online for free. project website (opens in new tab) horse Youtube channel (opens in new tab).
Related: What time is the conjunction of Venus and Saturn on Sunday, January 22?
Both Saturn and Venus are visible to the naked eye in the night sky, but there is a huge difference in brightness between the two. Venus is the next brightest object in the sky. Sun and it will be of magnitude -3.9 during the moon and conjunction. Famous for its surrounding rings, Saturn will be at magnitude 0.7 during the conjunction. (Negative numbers indicate bright objects in the sky.)
That means Saturn will be 100 times fainter than Venus during the conjunction, according to astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, head of the Virtual Telescope Project. Masi will observe the conjunction between Venus and Saturn from Ceccano, Italy.
During the conjunction, the two planets will be close enough in the night sky to be resolved with a telescope. Skywatchers will also be able to observe the conjunction with binoculars or with the naked eye, but it can be difficult to spot Saturn without the aid of an instrument.
Conditions must be suitable for viewing the show, weather permitting, as the next day the moon will only be a 2% illuminated crescent moon. new moon of january Saturday (21 January).
According to this In the sky (opens in new tab), From New York City, the conjunction between Venus and Saturn will become visible to the southwest in the constellation Capricorn at around 17:18 EST (2218 GMT), about 14 degrees above the horizon. The planets will set at 18:48 EST (2348 GMT), about two hours after the sun.
The conjunction of these planets marks the beginning of the evening appearance of Venus. According to this Joe Rao of Space.comAn evening aspect of Venus will see it literally ascend to the skies in late spring, at which time the already bright planet will more than double its brightness.
As Venus rises above the horizon, during this period Saturn will descend in the night sky each subsequent night, disappearing into the twilight doing so. This leads to Saturn’s solar conjunction on February 1. 16, 2023.
If you are hoping to observe the Saturn-Venus conjunction for yourself, here are our guides for you. best telescopes and best binoculars it’s a great place to start. If you want to take some photos of the conjunction, see. The best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.
Editor’s Note: If you catch a Saturn and Venus conjunction and would like to share it with Space.com readers, send your photo(s), comments, name and location to: spacephotographs@space.com. This story was updated on January 1st. 22, to include the new start time of this live stream and the YouTube video stream.
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