Take a look in the western skies this weekend for Venus as it moves through the star cluster Pleiades.
The best view is tonight, when the planet poses amid the stars in the star cluster. The star cluster has many names. It is also called Seven Sisters. The popular automobile Subaru is actually a Japanese word for the star cluster.
The star cluster is 444 light years away. Venus is only 60 million miles away; so much closer to us than the Sun at 93 million miles.
This weekend’s show is a rare event and won’t happen again, with the two so close, for eight years.
Even if the weather doesn’t help this weekend, the show still goes on. We photographed the two earlier this week, on Tuesday night. Watch the planet nightly and notice the planets movement amid the stars.
| Day | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|
| Fri., April 3 | 6:21 | 7:08 |
| Sat., April 4 | 6:20 | 7:09 |
| Sun., April 5 | 6:18 | 7:10 |
| Mon., April 6 | 6:16 | 7:12 |
| Tues., April 7 | 6:15 | 7:13 |
| Wed., April 8 | 6:13 | 7:14 |
| Thurs., April 9 | 6:11 | 7:15 |
| Fri., April 10 | 6:10 | 7:16 |
| Day | Max (Fº) | Min (Fº) | Inches |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 27 | 49 | 37 | T |
| March 28 | 62 | 30 | 0.00 |
| March 29 | 54 | 43 | 0.57 |
| March 30 | 46 | 42 | 0.14 |
| March 31 | 46 | 37 | 0.02 |
| April 1 | 42 | 35 | T |
| April 2 | 45 | 39 | 0.15 |
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