Venus and Nunki

Venus and Nunki

 When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look southwest. You can't miss Venus shining brightly through the twilight. Got patience? Keep watching until the sky darkens. Venus is not alone:

 

"Last night, Venus slid past the star Nunki (Sigma Sagittarii) in the Milk Dipper asterism in Sagittarius," says astronomy professor Jimmy Westlake, who took the picture on November 18th from Stagecoach, Colorado. "The two missed each other by a scant 12.75 arc minutes. Venus (magnitude -4.56) shines a whopping 420 times brighter than Nunki (magnitude +2)." The mismatched pair is separating now, but Venus and Nunki are still only a fraction of a degree apart on Nov. 19th.

 

The intent of this post is to remind the reader that there is a lot of "thrifty" entertainment all around us.