This weekend, Venus visits a popular star cluster called the Pleiades, also
known as the Seven Sisters. In this image, taken from Yampa, Colorado on March
31 by Jimmy Westlake, brilliant Venus is underneath the cluster. The best is
yet to come.
Westlake, from Steamboat Springs, used a digital camera and a 300mm lens, exposing
the image for 90 seconds.
The seven stars of the Pleiades were all born about the same time, roughly
100 million years ago (our Sun is 4.6 billion years old). Every 8 years, Venus
slides through the cluster as seen from our vantagepoint.
You can't miss Venus, which is brighter than all stars and planets. It's high
in the western sky just after sunset. The Pleiades, tougher to spot, are sometimes
mistaken for the Little Dipper because of the shape they form. You'll need fairly
dark skies away from city lights to enjoy the display.
On Friday evening, Venus enters the Pleiades, just below the dipper's bowl,
according to NASA. On Saturday, Venus will be higher, amid the stars in the
dipper's handle. On Sunday, April 4th, Venus exits the cluster.
On Friday and Saturday, Venus will be extremely close -- less than 1 degree
in astronomers terms -- from the brightest Pleiad, 3rd-magnitude Alcyone, with
the brilliant light from Venus almost overwhelming it.
"As a matter of fact, you may need binoculars to properly see the Pleiades
on these nights, whereas several nights before and after, the separation from
Venus is enough to allow the star cluster to stand out," says Joe Rao, SPACE.com's
Night Sky columnist.
