Venus + Neptune conjunction 27/01/20

Hi everyone.

There is the small matter of a Venus - Neptune conjunction occurring on Monday evening 27th January.
Sunset is to happen at 16.57 UT.
I have worked out on my Guide 9.1 DVD that at 18.00 UT Neptune will be almost due north of Venus. The 8th planet will be a mere 8 arc minutes(') north of the 2nd planet. Venus' magnitude will be -4.1; Neptune will be +7.9.
This is a very close conjunction.
Therefore I would advise using low magnification first before increasing as much as possible -even up to 300X.
You just might see the 2 planets in the same field of view. But even moderate magnifications will do very nicely also.

Clear spells and blustery showers are both possible for Monday evening.

Venus distance: 167 million kms.
Neptune distance: almost 4.600 million kms.

I wish you all clear skies,

Aubrey.

Hi Aubrey,

Very many thanks for notifying us of this event. To see two planets in the same FOV would be a sight to behold.

Here's hoping the sky is clear for it.

All the best,

Darren.

Unfortunately I have too many layers of cloud here.
And I am going out later for a church committee meeting.

Maybe one of you will observe the Venus / Neptune conjunction.

Best regards from Aubrey.

Showers washed out the sky nicely down in Limerick and here are a couple of DSLR images at prime focus of the Nexstar SE8, between 6 and 6.15pm; 2 sec exposures. Venus a mere 63,000 times brighter





Finbarr. 

Hi Finbarr,

Very well done on capturing the conjunction. As Aubrey mentioned, the clouds over Dublin were fairly heavy tonight. So, very many thanks for posting your images as they allow us to see the event.

Clear skies,

Darren.

Those are cracking shots Finbarr well done!