Venus and the beehive
On the evenings of June 12 and 13, 2023, you can see Venus — the brightest planet — as it passes through the famous star cluster known as the Beehive. Nearby Venus will appear as a large, bright diamond flowing through dozens of smaller diamonds that are more distant in this star cluster. On both nights, Venus is about 1 degree — or two full moons together — of the beehive.
First, look for sunny Venus in the west after sunset. At magnitude -4.2, the evening sky is easily dominated by Venus. You might also notice two bright stars in the sky lower than Venus. They are the shining stars in Gemini, Pollux, and Castor.
Above Venus and the twin stars there is a bright reddish glow … And this is Mars.
Then, if you are in a dark sky location or have binoculars, you can see a speck of light on the celestial dome near Venus. This tiny star is the Beehive star cluster, in the constellation Cancer the Crab.
In late May and early June — around June 1 and 2, 2023 — Mars is a delightfully bright glow among the dim Honeycomb clusters. And now it’s the turn of the beautiful planet Venus. Venus will become a beacon among the dimmer stars in the cluster.
Unless the sky is very dark, you’ll need binoculars to catch the stars in the cluster. The nest will be easy to spot if you place Venus out of your field of vision.
The telescope will reveal more than 1,000 members of the hive group.
Closer look at the honeycomb star cluster
With visual aids, the true nature of this star cluster comes to life.
The stars in this cluster are located about 577 light years away. This is in contrast to Venus, which is only a few light minutes away.
And when you look at the honeycomb – think how many planets there could be among those 1,000 stars. We already know of at least two (Pr0201b and Pr0211b).
Do you have photos to share? Post in the EarthSky community photos. We sure love to see them.
Image of the Martian Society buzzing with beehives
Earlier this month, Mars passed in front of the Honeycomb star cluster. Below are some photos that have been submitted to the EarthSky photo community.
More pictures of Mars buzzing with beehives
Bottom line: Discover Venus and the Honeycomb star cluster together on June 12 and 13, 2023. You’ll want to grab your binoculars to get a great view of the star clusters that make a sparkling accent to dazzling Venus.
Want to see more night sky events? Visit EarthSky’s night sky guide
Our charts are mostly set for the Northern Hemisphere. To see an accurate display of your location, try it Stellarium Online.
2023-06-13 02:03:45
#Venus #beehive #June
