Post by Centaur on Jan 6, 2015 0:18:29 GMT -6
During the coming early evenings, Mercury and Venus will be performing a dance in our western sky. They will appear within 1° of each other this month from the 8th through 12th. They will appear closest during the evening of January 10th with a separation of only 38 arcminutes. However this month they will never satisfy either of the technical definitions of conjunction, i.e. sharing the same ecliptical longitude or right ascension. Mercury will appear to be attempting to catch up with Venus, but run out of gas before a technical conjunction. Nevertheless, if planets appear so close, I set aside consideration of any standard coordinate system and call it a conjunction.
Below is a chart I created to illustrate how Mercury and Venus will be appearing in Chicago's western sky at 17:30 CST during the coming evenings.
Photos and descriptions of the pair would be welcome additions to this thread.
Below is a chart I created to illustrate how Mercury and Venus will be appearing in Chicago's western sky at 17:30 CST during the coming evenings.
Photos and descriptions of the pair would be welcome additions to this thread.
