Venus Visits the Pleiades

Our closest planetary neighbor, Venus, passed near the Pleiades, an open star cluster in early April 2020. This alignment was a stunning sight with the naked eye as well as with any magnification. Just this week Venus and our Moon aligned for another great show - if you had a cloudless view. A host of comets were also predicted to offer a sky show this year but two have fizzled as they rounded the sun. However, there is another promising ice ball (Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3) on its way and may be seen in the northern hemisphere during mid-July. We will see.

Improved Sighting of Comet Pan-Starrs Over Iowa

Tonight Comet Pan-Starrs hovered above the orange colors of sunset just west of Fairfax, Iowa. The comet moved almost 16 degrees north in three nights of observations. Pan-Starrs is still located only 10 - 15 degrees above the horizon, roughly an hour after sunset and requires binoculars to see. Photo specs: 13 sec exposure, ISO 400, 97 mm focal length, 8:32:56 PM CDT. Air temp was 25 F with little wind - much better than the past two evenings. For the latest information including where to locate the comet click here.