Venus–Jupiter Conjunction 2026: Understanding Right Ascension and Ecliptic Longitude Conjunctions

The Venus–Jupiter conjunction on 9 June 2026 will bring the brightest planet, Venus, and the largest planet in the Solar System, Jupiter, together in the evening twilight sky. Shortly after sunset, a glance toward the western horizon will reveal these two brilliant worlds shining side by side like diamonds. While most observers will simply enjoy the spectacle, astronomers define this conjunction in two different ways: a conjunction in Right Ascension and a conjunction in Ecliptic Longitude.

A simple example of a conjunction is the New Moon, which occurs every month and is nothing more than a conjunction of the Sun and Moon.

In astronomy, conjunctions are defined in two ways: Conjunction in Right Ascension and Conjunction in Ecliptic Longitude.

Conjunction in Right Ascension

First, let us look at a conjunction in Right Ascension (RA). For this type of conjunction, the celestial objects must have the same Right Ascension, meaning they are equally distant from the First Point of Aries when measured along the celestial equator.

For the Venus–Jupiter conjunction on 9 June, both planets have the same Right Ascension at 6:00 PM IST:

Venus: RA 07h 51m

Jupiter: RA 07h 51m

As shown in the chart, the planets align parallel to the Right Ascension lines. Another way of stating this is that they are aligned perpendicular to a declination line. This configuration is known as a conjunction in Right Ascension.

Conjunction in Ecliptic Longitude

Next, let us look at a conjunction in Ecliptic Longitude.

Ecliptic Longitude is the angle measured eastward along the ecliptic from the First Point of Aries. At first glance, this sounds similar to Right Ascension because both measurements begin at the First Point of Aries and increase eastward. However, the key difference lies in the reference plane used.

Right Ascension is measured along the celestial equator and is expressed in hours, minutes, and seconds, where 15 degrees equals 1 hour.

Ecliptic Longitude, on the other hand, is measured in degrees along the ecliptic, which is the apparent path of the Sun across the sky.

Since the ecliptic is tilted by approximately 23.44° with respect to the celestial equator, the two coordinate systems are not identical. As a result, a conjunction in Right Ascension and a conjunction in Ecliptic Longitude generally occur at different times.

In the chart below, the grid lines represent the Right Ascension and declination coordinate system, while the yellow line represents the ecliptic. Compare this with the ecliptic longitude chart, where the division lines are drawn perpendicular to the ecliptic.

Right Ascension and declination coordinate system

Ecliptic Longitude chart

By examining the orientation of these lines, we can clearly see why the conjunction in Right Ascension and the conjunction in Ecliptic Longitude occur at different times.

Let us examine both conjunctions in more detail using star charts with coordinate lines.

Conjunction in Right Ascension

Date: 9 June 2026

Time: 6:00 PM IST

Venus: RA 07h 51m

Jupiter: RA 07h 51m

The chart shows that, in the Equatorial Coordinate System, the planets are aligned parallel to the Right Ascension lines. This indicates that they are equidistant from the First Point of Aries when measured along the celestial equator.

If we now switch the same chart to the Ecliptic Coordinate System, it becomes visually obvious that the planets are not equidistant from the First Point of Aries when measured along the ecliptic.

Conjunction in Ecliptic Longitude

Date: 10 June 2026

Time: 1:30 AM IST

Venus Ecliptic Longitude      115°46'

Jupiter Ecliptic Longitude   115°46'

The chart below shows that the planets are now aligned parallel to the coordinate division lines that are perpendicular to the ecliptic. This indicates that the planets are equidistant from the First Point of Aries when measured along the ecliptic.

In other words, the planets had to move a little farther after the Right Ascension conjunction before achieving alignment in Ecliptic Longitude.

Conclusion

When you observe the Venus–Jupiter conjunction on the evening of 9 June, I hope you will remember that there is more than one way to define a conjunction. Whether it is a conjunction in Right Ascension or a conjunction in Ecliptic Longitude depends entirely on the coordinate system being used.

Understanding the difference between these two types of conjunctions provides a deeper appreciation of how astronomers measure positions in the sky and why the same celestial event can have slightly different timings depending on the coordinate system chosen.

SKY FOR THE WEEK

The concepts presented in this article were discussed during the Sky for the Week session held on 7 June 2026 at the Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers (ABAA). In these weekly Sunday sessions, members and visitors explore upcoming celestial events, learn how to observe them, and discuss the astronomical principles behind what we see in the sky.

From planetary conjunctions and lunar events to eclipses, meteor showers, and seasonal sky highlights, the sessions aim to connect celestial observations with the science that explains them. Understanding not only what happens in the sky, but also why it happens, helps observers develop a deeper appreciation of astronomy.

The Sky for the Week sessions are conducted every Sunday and are open to anyone interested in exploring the wonders of the night sky.

 

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Planet Venus High in the Sky

 
On January 10, 2025, Venus will reach its Greatest Eastern Elongation. Venus, the brightest "star" in the evening western skies, outshines everything else. Just after sunset, in the evening twilight, it is easy to spot this diamond in the sky.

Greatest Elongation refers to the largest angle formed between Earth, the Sun, and a planet—in this case, Venus. On this day, Venus will appear 47 degrees away from the Sun as seen from Earth. As both Earth and Venus orbit the Sun, the angle between Venus and the Sun (as viewed from Earth) changes. When the planets align with Venus between Earth and the Sun, the angle is zero, an event known as Inferior Conjunction. Since Venus orbits closer to the Sun and moves faster than Earth, this angle increases, eventually reaching a maximum of 47 degrees. After this point, the angle begins to decrease until it reaches zero again. When Venus aligns on the far side of the Sun relative to Earth, this is called a Superior Conjunction.

At Greatest Eastern Elongation, Venus will display a nearly half-phase and will set late in the evening. As the days pass, the angle between the Sun and Venus will gradually reduce, but Venus's apparent size will increase. The phase will change from half to a crescent as the distance between Venus and Earth decreases.

At Greatest Elongation, Venus's angular size will be 24.6 arcseconds, with the planet located 101,742,566 km from Earth. As Venus continues to approach Earth, its angular size will increase to 46 arcseconds by the end of February, while its distance decreases to 53,967,713 km. Venus will be closest to Earth on March 22, 2025, at a distance of 41,977,162 km, just before reaching Inferior Conjunction on March 23, 2025.

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Watch Brightest Venus on Friday

After Sunset in the western twilight sky we see a bright star outshining all the starts in the evening sky, this is the planet Venus. The visual apparent magnitude of the planet Venus is now -4.6 and the apparent magnitude of brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, in the constellation of Cains Major is -1.46 this makes Venus 18 times brighter than Sirius. 

Brocken Inaglory, Venus-pacific-levelled, CC BY-SA 3.0

On February 17th Venus will reach its brightest crescent phase and this is called Greatest Illuminated Extent, the amount of illuminated crescent and the angular diameter of the planet Venus. Venus will have an angular diameter of 39 arc seconds and fraction of illumination is .273 of the angular diameter. After this day the illuminated side will start decreasing and we will see the crescent getting thinner. By second week of March the illuminated fraction will be only .085 of the diameter of the planet and magnitude would have come down to -4.4 still brightest in the evening sky. 

View Through the Telescope on 17th of Feb

View Through the Telescope on 10th March

The planet Venus will slowly fade into glare of the Sun and will reach inferior conjunction on March 25^th. In April we will see Venus in early morning sky before sunrise and again the Greatest Illuminated Extent will happen on April 30^th. Time to take out the telescopes and observe Venus in coming days, if you don't have one you are always welcome at ABAA on Sundays evening and see the Venus through our telescope. Venus sets at 9pm now and in middle of March the planet will set at 7:30pm.

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Venus and Mars Conjunction

In the evening twilight after sunset, we find Venus shining bright in the western sky. These days we find a red star very close to Venus, in fact this is not a star but red planet Mars. On 22^nd of February these two planets come closest to each other, at just below half a degree. Our moon measures half a degree in the sky.

If we continue observing these planets for few days more, we can see that Venus is moving up in the sky and Mars is getting closer to Sun.

Hope you all get a chance to see this during the weekend.

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Daytime Occultation of Moon and Saturn August 4th

Daytime occultation, second of this year will be of Moon Occulting Saturn. Earlier this year in February we saw Moon occulting Venus in the daytime, both Venus and Moon were easily visible because of their brightness.  

 

On August 4^th, we will see Moon occulting Saturn in the daytime, but we will need telescope to see Saturn as the surrounding sky will be very bright.

Stellarium generated image.

 

The occultation will begin 2pm IST as seen from Bangalore, its always a good practice to start observing as early as possible. Saturn will disappear from dark side of the moon and emerge from the sunlit side at 2:40pm.

Do not try to locate Saturn with the telescope if you are new to finding planets during daytime. As bright Sun will be very close, accidental viewing of Sun through the telescope will be disastrous to the eye.

Here are the times and positions of the Planet for those who have setting circles

August 4th Occultation.

Time	Right Ascension	Declination	Altitude	Azimuth
13:45	15:00:00	-14:44:27	14:36	109:18
14:00 Start	15:00:00	-14:44:27	18:00	110:27
14:40 End	15:00:00	-14:44:27	27:15	114:20
	Deg:Mins:Secs	Deg:Mins:Secs	Deg:Mins:Secs	Deg:Mins:Secs

Its a matter of luck to have clear skies in this monsoon season, but its always better to be prepared and hope for the best. 

Clear Skies 

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Daytime Venus Occultation

Daytime skies are little boring to people with only one star to observe. Occasionally we get treats like solar eclipse and transits, amazing celestial daytime events that make the long wait worthwhile.  On 15^th February 2013, a meteor entered earth atmosphere and as it burnt up, it lit up the skies of Chelyabinsk, Russia. Apart from these rare events, the actions in the skies hide behind the glare of the sun during the day.

Lunar occultation of stars and planets are events normally associated with night sky. Moon occults stars and planets during daytime too but we cannot see these events because, the bright Sun outshines everything in the sky. However, every rule has an exception; we see Moon during daytime without any difficulty, and with practice, we can also spot Venus with naked eye and it is an easy target for telescope in the daytime.

This February 26^th there is an event involving Moon and Venus during daytime(Readers of AKASHA will already know this from JAN-FEB issue). Moon will occult Venus on this day. Occultation of planets by Moon is rare event, for example from Bangalore the next Occultation of Venus by Moon will be in 2023 March 24^th.

We have to take Extreme precaution when planning to observe the event, equipment  always has be pointed away from the Sun. Even very small duration exposure to Sun’s rays through telescope or binocular can damage the eyes permanently.

The brightness of both Moon and Venus makes it good challenge for daytime occultation observation with Moon at crescent phase and Venus close to half phase at -4.5 magnitude, will be a great sight through the eyepiece.

Venus will disappear from the lit part of the crescent Moon and reappear from the dark part of Moon. Venus will be close to 15 minutes of arc from the brighter edge of the moon at 10:30am IST, both should fit in to the same field of view in a 6-inch telescope.

 

Here are the times and altitude of Moon for February 26^th Occultation:

Venus will disappear at 11:05am IST and at this time the altitude of Moon will be 53 degrees.  Venus will reappear from the darker side of the Moon at 12:29pm IST. The altitude of Moon at the reappearance of Venus will be 38 degrees.

Hope for clear skies.

 

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Venus visits M44

These days planet Venus is in the constellation of Cancer and rising early at 3am. From September 12^th to 15^th September Venus will pass very close to open cluster M44, popularly called Beehive cluster. Under good sky conditions, M44 is visible to naked eyes but best view is with a pair of binoculars. Take the binoculars out from 12^th to 15^th of September and point it to the brightest morning star, Venus, in wide angle binoculars like 10X50 M44 should be visible right-away left of Venus., in little smaller field of view binoculars like 15X70 you may have to take Venus to the right corner of the field to make both Venus and M44 visible in the same field. 

Twilight starts creeping in from 4:45am, the time before twilight should make it an amazing sight. 

Beehive cluster or M44 as its know is an open cluster has a magnitude of 3.7. The age of the cluster is approximately 700 million years old and its distance is 577 light years. Venus on the other hand is bright -4.2 magnitude and distance is approximately 140 million kilometers.

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Planets for the Month of September

Morning Planets:

Mercury:

Mercury will reach superior conjunction on September 10^th and it will towards the end of the month that Mercury will be placed well for observing.

Jupiter:

Jupiter is well placed for observations in the constellation of Taurus. The giant planet rises early at 11:45pm and has a magnitude of -2.4.  

Venus:

Morning star Venus is well placed of observations through out the month. Venus rises at 3am in the constellation of Cancer shining at a magnitude of -4.2. The planet will just 2 degrees from M44 or beehive cluster as popularly known, on September 14^th making it a fantastic view in binoculars. Seen through the telescope Venus will appear just more than half phase, moving towards gibbous phase as days go by.

Evening Planets:

Mars:

Mars is in the evening twilight in the constellation of Libra. The red planet is at a magnitude of 1.2 and will set at 9:20pm.

Saturn:

Saturn is also placed low in the Western horizon, in the constellation of Virgo. The planet sets early at 8pm.

Uranus:

Uranus is well placed for observetion through out the month. Uranus rises early at 7pm giving full night for observations. This planet is visible through a pair of binoculars is at a magnitude of 5.7. Uranus will reach opposition on September 29^th.

Neptune:

Neptune is also well placed for observations through out the month in the constellation of Aquarius. Neptune has a magnitude of 7.8.

Moon Phases:

Last quarter: 08-Sep-2012

New moon: 16-Sep-2012

First quarter: 22-Sep-2012

Full moon: 30-Sep-2012

Sun:

On September 22^nd Sun will reach autumnal equinox, when Sun's declination becomes zero and Right Aessionsion(RA) becomes 12 h. The Sun will reach this co ordinates at 9pm IST on September 22. Although this point is called First point of Libra, the Sun will be in Virgo constellation.

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Last Venus Transit of the Century

We have waited 8 years for this event on June 6^th this year and if we miss it, its just another 105 years wait for this event to re occur. This event is Transit of Venus, and the last time we observed was on June 8^th 2004 and its going to take place again on June 6^th this year. In 2004 we could see both Ingress, that is Planet entering Sun's disc, and also Egress meaning Planet coming out of Sun's disc. Many had luck observing the full event but a lot of us had to deal with clouds, as monsoon was just starting.

Since March 26^th 2012 after the Greatest Elongation of Venus, we are observing the planet slowly shrinking in altitude in the evening sky and also observing the changing phases of Venus through the telescope, Venus changing from Half lit to Crescent phase and also we have been noticing that the  planet is  getting bigger in angular size and with this we can conclude that Venus is coming closer and in a few days time it will be between the Earth and the Sun.

When Venus comes between Earth and the Sun, the planet is said to be in Inferior Conjunction. On June 6^th Venus will be in Inferior Conjunction, this day also happens to be when Venus and Earth lie in the same orbital plane making Sun, Venus and Earth lie in an exact line. When this happens, we can see Venus moving across the Sun's disc, This is called Transit of Venus.

Why  Venus transit does not happen on all Inferior Conjunctions? This is because, Venus's orbital plane is inclined at an angle of 3.39 degrees and only when Venus and Earth line up exactly in this  plane, we can see a transit. The alignment of Earth orbit meeting the Venus orbit happens in the month of June and December, during this time when the planet aligns exactly in line we see a transit. Venus Transits reoccur at intervals of 8, 121.5, 8 and 105.5 years, last was in 2004 and now in 2012, we are going to see it again in 2117 and 2125 both in December.

For our region Venus Transit on 6^th June starts at 3:40am so we have to wait till sunrise to see the transit. It would be a wonderful sight to watch sunrise with Venus as a black circular dot in the north on Sun's disc.

Sun Rise at 5:52am

Transit starts	03:40:00 AM
Minimum separation	07:00:00 AM	Sun Altitude 14degrees 30minutes
Transit Ends	10:20:00 AM	Sun Altitude 60degrees 18minutes

Make sure you are in an area where you have clear horizon and its not blocked by buildings and trees. Never look at the sun directly, the best way to observe the sun is through the sun filters.

Ways of observing the event :

NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY, ALWAYS USE PROPER FILTERS.

Viewing with the help of Binocular:

If you have a pair of binoculars you can fix the binocular on to a stand and project the image of the Sun on to a cardboard or wall and safely watch the Transit. Do not point the binoculars at the sun for long duration at a time. Again NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY THROUGH THE BINOCULAR use binoculars only to project the image.

Observing with help of telescope:

If you have a telescope, you can use the telescope to project the image of the sun on to a wall or a screen. Before doing that it is advisable to make a mask with small opening that is smaller than the mirror size, like the one shown in the photo and attach it in front of the tube to reduce intensity of the sun and also this will help in increasing the contrast of the image.

This is called an off axis mask.

NEVER LOOK THROUGH THE TELESCOPE AT THE SUN, THIS WILL DAMAGE YOUR EYES PERMANENTLY.

After attaching the mask you can use the telescope to project the image and observe it safely. 

Every few minutes move the telescope away from the sun so that the heat of the sun does not damage the optical system.

Buy a proper solar filter to observe the sun, do not use sun glasses to see the sun.

Cassegrain telescopes should not be used to project sun, as the internal heat can damage the optical system. 

You can visit transitofvenus.org website for further information on observing advice.

Hope you all have a wonderful observing session this June 6th. Make sure you spread the word and educate people about the Transit.

All the best and Clear skies.

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Planets for the Month

Mercury:

Mercury will reach inferior conjunction on September 3^rd. It will be lost in the Sun's glare in the first week of September. During second week, Mercury will be too close to eastern horizon at around 8 degrees at 6am. After 15^th the planet Mercury will be little easy to spot if there is a clear horizon. Mercury will reach greatest elongation on 19^th September, the angular separation from the Sun will be 18degrees. Mercury will be in the constellation of Leo all month.

Date	Rise
1st Sep	06:35:00 AM
8th Sep	05:35:00 AM
15th Sep	05:02:00 AM
22nd Sep	04:59:00 AM
29th Sep	05:15:00 AM

Venus:

Venus will continue to dominate the evening western sky all this month. On 11^th September, Venus and crescent Moon will be close to each other at a separation of just 1 degree.

Date	Set
1st Sep	08:53:00 PM
8th Sep	08:43:00 PM
15th Sep	08:31:00 PM
22nd Sep	08:16:00 PM
29th Sep	07:57:00 PM

Venus and Mars

Mars:

The red planet will be in the constellation of Virgo all month. Mars can be spotted in the western sky evening sky 6 degrees north of Venus.

Date	Set
1st Sep	08:50:00 PM
8th Sep	08:38:00 PM
15th Sep	08:26:00 PM
22nd Sep	08:15:00 PM
29th Sep	08:04:00 PM

Jupiter:

Jupiter is well placed for observations as it rises early in the evening. The giant planet will the brightest “star” in the region at -2.5 magnitude.

On 19^th September, Jupiter and Uranus will be close each other at an angular separation of 48 minutes of arc. An 8 inch f/8 telescope with 32mm eyepiece will show the giant planet and Uranus in single field.

Jupiter will reach opposition on September 21^st , this means, the planet Jupiter, Earth and the Sun will be the straight line. As a result, Jupiter will rise as the Sun sets, giving observers chance to study the planet all night.

Date	Rise
1st Sep	07:41:39 PM
8th Sep	07:11:24 PM
15th Sep	06:40:56 PM
22nd Sep	06:10:22 PM
29th Sep	05:39:48 PM

Field in binocular

Saturn:

Saturn, now low in the western horizon is getting difficult to spot. In the constellation of Virgo, the planet Saturn will be lost in the Sun's glare towards the end of the month.

Date	Set
1st Sep	07:58:32 PM
8th Sep	07:33:42 PM
15th Sep	07:08:56 PM
22nd Sep	06:44:14 PM
29th Sep	06:19:33 PM

Uranus:

Uranus can be easily be seen through a 10X50 binoculars. Now its easier as Jupiter can be taken as reference. Pick up the binoculars and point it towards Jupiter and keep the Jupiter at the center of field. Just 1 degrees west to Jupiter you will find 5.7^th magnitude Uranus.

Uranus will also reaches opposition on 21^st of September, same day as Jupiter.

Date	Rise
1st Sep	07:34:44 PM
8th Sep	07:06:20 PM
22nd Sep	06:09:28 PM
29th Sep	05:41:02 PM

Neptune:

Neptune will be in the constellation of Capricornus in the month of August. Planet Neptune can be found at 4 degrees NE of delta Capricorni. Neptune is at magnitude of 7.8. Neptune will be just 1 degree NE of mu Capricorni

Date	Rise
1st Sep	05:44:39 PM
8th Sep	05:16:30 PM
15th Sep	04:48:22 PM
22nd Sep	04:20:17 PM
29th Sep	03:52:15 PM

Pluto:

Pluto still is in the rich star field of constellation Sagittarius at 14^th Magnitude.

Phases of Moon:

New moon: 08 Sep 2010

First quarter: 15 Sep 2010

Full moon: 23 Sep 2010

Last quarter: 01 Oct 2010

Sun:

Sun will be in the constellation of Leo till middle of September and move to Virgo.

Equinox:

On 23^rd September at approximately 8:40am the Sun reaches RA of 12h and Dec of 0 degress, this is Autumnal Equinox. This point is also called as First point of Libra.

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Venus at Greatest Elongation today

This evening the planet Venus, the bright evening star, reaches Greatest Elongation. That means the angular separation between the Sun and the planet Venus will be at maximum of 46 degrees, as observed from Earth. After this day the angular separation between the Sun and Venus starts decreasing

If observed through telescope, we can notice that Venus one half lit by reflected light from the Sun and the other half in dark. As the days progress, planet Venus will move from Half phase to Crescent phase, making the planet little more brighter.

Seen through the telescope the planet Venus will slowly increase in size, angular diameter, as the days pass. Now its around 24 seconds of arc and the planet will slowly increase to a diameter close to a minute of arc before reaching inferior conjunction in late October.

Venus is well placed for observations in the western evening sky through out this month.

This evening the red planet Mars will be 1° 57' NE of bright Venus.

Hope the skies will be clear...

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Planets for the Month

Mercury:

Planet Mercury will reach greatest elongation of 27 degrees on 7^th of August. After reaching greatest elongation, the angular separation between the planet Mercury and the Sun starts decreasing.

Mercury can be seen low in the western horizon as a bright 0.4 magnitude star, just after sunset.

If observed daily, it can be noticed that, just after the sunset the angle between the horizon and the planet Mercury will start decreasing as days go by.

Planet Mercury will remain in the constellation of Leo all this month, and will be lost in the glare of the Sun towards the last week of August.

Mercury setting times:

Date	Set Time
7th Aug	8:16pm IST
14th Aug	8:00pm IST
21st Aug	7:36pm IST
28th Aug	6:58pm IST

Venus:

Planet Venus is the brightest “star” in the evening western sky now, shining close to -4.5 magnitude. Planet Venus is well placed for observation all this month. Venus will reach greatest elongation on August 20^th with an angular separation of 46 degrees from the Sun.

On 8^th August, Venus and Saturn can be seen close to each other with an angular separation of just 2.6 degrees. Planet Saturn will be north of Venus.

The crescent Moon will be 4 degrees south of Venus on August 13th. Moon, Venus and Saturn will almost be in a straight line, with red planet Mars placed east of Venus on the evening.

On 20^th August, Venus and the red planet Mars will be close each other with a separation of 2 degrees.

Venus setting times:

Date	Set Time
7th Aug	9:18pm IST
14th Aug	9:10pm IST
21st Aug	9:04pm IST
28th Aug	8:57pm IST

Mars:

The red planet Mars will be in the constellation of Virgo all this month. Mars can be spotted easily by taking Venus as reference. Mars will be shining at 1.5 magnitude SE of Venus in the beginning of the month. Middle of month Mars will be in east of Venus and towards the end of the month, Mars will be north of Venus.

Date	Set Time
7th Aug	9:40pm IST
14th Aug	9:25pm IST
21st Aug	9:12pm IST
28th Aug	9:00pm IST

Jupiter:

Jupiter is well placed for observations, in the constellation of Pisces rises around 9:15 in the beginning of the month. The Giant planet is easy to find, shining at -2.5 is the brightest star in the eastern sky at around 9:30pm.

Date	Rise Time
7th Aug	9:20pm IST
14th Aug	8:50pm IST
21st Aug	8:28pm IST
28th Aug	8:00pm IST

Saturn:

Saturn spends the month in the constellation of Virgo this month. In the evening western sky locate bright Venus, just 4 degrees east of Venus, the planet Saturn can be found easily. Towards middle of the month, Saturn can be found north of bright Venus. Saturn can be found NW of Venus and Mars towards the end of August.

Date	Set Time
7th Aug	9:30pm IST
14th Aug	9:04pm IST
21st Aug	8:40pm IST
28th Aug	8:15pm IST

Uranus:

Uranus can be found 3 degrees west of Jupiter. A good pair of binoculars will be needed to see the planet Uranus. A good pair of 7X50 or 10X50 binoculars will show Jupiter and Uranus in the same field. Uranus is 5.8magnitude.

Date	Rise Time
7th Aug	9:15pm IST
14th Aug	8:48pm IST
21st Aug	8:19pm IST
28th Aug	7:51pm IST

Neptune:

Neptune will be in the constellation of Capricornus in the month of August. Planet Neptune can be found at 4 degrees NE of delta Capricorni. Neptune is at magnitude of 7.8. On 20^th of August, Neptune will be at opposition.

Date	Rise Time
7th Aug	7:25pm IST
14th Aug	6:57pm IST
21st Aug	6:30pm IST
28th Aug	6:02pm IST

Pluto:

Pluto is in the rich star field of constellation Sagittarius at 14^th Magnitude.

Moon Phases for the month:

New moon: 10 Aug 2010

First quarter: 16 Aug 2010

Full moon: 24 Aug 2010

Last quarter: 1 Sep 2010

Sun:

Sun will be in the constellation of Cancer during the first week of August and moves to Leo and will stay in the constellation of Leo all this month.

Meteor Shower:

This month its time for Perseids meteor shower. The peak activity will on the nights of 12th and/or 13th night with 50 to 80 meteors per hour. The shower is called Perseids as the meteors originate from the constellation of Perseus and the constellation rises around 12 in the night. As we are in the middle of the monsoon season, its difficult to get clear skies in this month, hope for the best.

Comet Perihelion (Closest to Sun)

Comet Encke will reach perihelion on 6^th of August.

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