Venus, Moon, and Two Spacecraft To Meet in the Western Sky

This weekend brings a lovely conjunction of the planet Venus and the slender crescent Moon in the western sky at sunset.  And if you’re lucky, you may see the ISS drift by along with a special guest… the space shuttle Atlantis.

The Moon is just 5% illuminated on Saturday, and 10% on Sunday, making for a striking sight.  Look for the ghostly light that brightens the supposedly dark majority of the Moon’s face.  This light is reflected sunlight from the Earth… the “Earthshine”… that falls back on the Moon’s surface.

Venus will appear as the brightest star-like object in the sky… you can’t miss it hovering above the Moon as they descend together towards the western horizon around 9 p.m. local time.

A pair of binoculars will give you a close-up view of the Moon and the beautiful planet.

As for the ISS, it will be visible in the early evening on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in many parts of the world.  To find if it’s visible in your area, check out this NASA webpage.  Use the “Quick and Easy Sightings by City” feature on the left side of the page, and enter your country, state or province, and city for a list of times when the ISS will fly over.  It will look like a bright star sauntering across the sky before disappearing after a few minutes over the horizon or into the Earth’s shadow.

A double flyby of the ISS and space shuttle Discovery over Lumby, British Columbia, Canada, on April 20, 2010. Photo credit: Yuichi Takasaka.

And if fortune truly smiles on you, you’ll see Atlantis trying to catch up to the ISS for a rendezvous later this weekend.   Few have seen both spacecraft at once.  The shuttle isn’t up in space as of this morning; it’s due to launch at 2:20 p.m. EDT this afternoon.

With the Moon and Venus as a backdrop for these spacecraft, this will be a stunning and memorable event.