[Friends_of_SSASTROS] Notes From The Field - Venus's Shine is Diminishing

[Mike McCabe]

Friday, July 28th,2023; A lovely Conjunction in a Sunset Sky

There would be no lighthouse for me on this clear, hotFriday evening. I was too tuckered for that, but a quick review aroundsuppertime of the Stellarium Mobile app showed that there would be a targetworth pursuing if I could muster up the ambition to get off of my chair anddrive a couple of miles to a low western horizon site.

Eventually I did succeed in talking myself into that shortdrive, and although my first thoughts included bringing a small grab-n-go scopefor the task, my energy level wasn’t complying. I grabbed a pair of 15x70 binocularsand headed down the road hoping for the best.
The target I was hoping to see was a close conjunctionbetween the innermost planet Mercury and the alpha star of constellation Leo, whichgoes by the formal name of Regulus. 

'Conjunction' is a term that is often thrown around loosely in the skywatching realm, typically referring to just about any two objects appearing even remotely together in the sky. Mercury and Regulus actually met the technical definition of it on this evening, with both objects lying on the exact same right ascension line of 10hrs and 8min during the time of the observation. It doesn't make the observation any different than if they were just otherwise close together, but it's a cool little detail.
Hanging low in the western sky just after sunset, observingthe duo would present enough of a challenge to justify the effort of having tomove off-site to see it, but not so difficult as to be frustrating. Mercury andLeo would be separated by just 7 minutes of an arc at the time of sunset, whichif I was successful in seeing them would present themselves as a lovelyimitation of a pretty double-star system at binocular  magnifications.

Stepping from the truck into the thick, hot, and humid airsurrounding the cranberry bog that I was parked next to, the very first thingto hit me was a pack of rabid mosquitos. I was hoping to get in, get theobservation, and get out of there without spraying down, but that wasn’thappening. After a quick shower of Deep-Woods OFF, it was on to the hunt.

The first order of business was to locate Venus, because theGoddess of Love would help lead the way to the speedy Messenger to the Gods andits temporary neighbor Basiliscus. The unexpected part was that Venus, whichhas been the bright ‘Evening Star’ for some time now, is no more. She requiredbinoculars to locate, and was never resolved with the naked eye throughout theentire observation. Venus is just over two weeks from inferior conjunction,then beyond that she’ll become the ‘Morning Star’ for the remainder of theyear. In the meantime, thin crescent views are in the offing if you’re up toit.

By 8:20pm I had caught a glimpse in the 15x70’s of Mercuryand Leo together in the increasingly murky sky, and they continued to getbetter, even becoming easily seen in 8x42 binos, until about 8:45pm. They didindeed take on the appearance of a lovely double star system, with the addedinterest of one that twinkled and one that didn’t. Hanging just a few degreesabove the horizon in the post-sunset sky, Regulus literally appeared to beflashing on and off as its light was jostled by the thick atmosphere. Mercury,being what is considered to be an ‘extended object’ source of light, exhibitedno such behavior. It was an interesting contrast and one that I haven’t seenvery often.

So that’s it. Some evenings are simpler than others. Iunderstand that a grand ole’ time was had at the lighthouse last night, withall kinds of strange objects flying around the sky and strange looking devicespopulating the grounds. Hopefully someone from that group can explain what wenton down there. Curious minds would like to know, and based on the news recently, sowould Congress.

Keep Looking Up!

Mike McCabe

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