{"id":45435,"date":"2023-06-01T09:35:46","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T09:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=118939"},"modified":"2023-06-01T10:32:29","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T10:32:29","slug":"see-mars-venus-and-the-beehive-cluster-together-in-the-evening-sky-this-month","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/see-mars-venus-and-the-beehive-cluster-together-in-the-evening-sky-this-month\/","title":{"rendered":"See Mars, Venus and the Beehive Cluster together in the evening sky this month"},"content":{"rendered":"

Both Mars and Venus appear to pass the Beehive Cluster, M44, in June. <\/p>

By Pete Lawrence\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 01 June 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

The Beehive open cluster, M44, is a wonderful deep-sky object visible in the winter and spring sky.<\/p>\n

Its position is less than ideal during June, but despite this, during 2023 it poses an observing challenge as it\u2019s visited by the two main planets, Mars<\/a> and Venus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The encounter with Mars is right at the start of June, arguably when the Beehive Cluster<\/a> is easiest to see.<\/span><\/p>\n

The best time to see Mars and the Beehive Cluster will be 1\u20133 June, and Venus and the Beehive Cluster will be 12-14 June.<\/span><\/p>\n

\""Chart\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Chart showing the locations of Mars, Venus and the Beehive Cluster in June 2023. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

On the evening of 1 June<\/strong>, as Venus gets very low and the evening twilight<\/a> begins to darken enough to show stars, use binoculars to find Mars.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s 10\u00b0 to the left and slightly up from Venus, pink-orange in colour and shines at mag. +1.6.\u00a0<\/span>On this evening, it is located on the western edge of M44.<\/span><\/p>\n

The brighter cluster stars should be visible using binoculars given a flat west-northwest horizon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, a telescope with a camera attached, pointed at Mars, should be able to deliver the cluster as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

A line-of-sight alignment means that Mars appears within the cluster on the evening of 2 June<\/strong> and slightly to the east of it on the evening of 3 June<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the easiest sight, but a rewarding challenge given clear skies.<\/p>\n

\""Mars\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Mars in The Beehive by Frank Ryan Jr, Shannon, Ireland.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Timings will vary across the UK, so a good rule of thumb is to wait until Venus is at just over 2\u00b0 altitude.<\/p>\n

If using binoculars with a 5\u00b0 field, the horizon should just be showing at the bottom of the field of view when Venus is centred.<\/p>\n

The Venus\u2013M44 encounter occurs on 12\u201314 June, Venus passing just north of the cluster.<\/p>\n

Bright twilight and low altitude will make this a tough observation. If you managed to see Mars and M44 earlier in the month, then you\u2019re already prepared for just how difficult this can be.<\/p>\n

This guide originally appeared in the June 2023 issue of <\/strong><\/em>BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Both Mars and Venus appear to pass the Beehive Cluster, M44, in June. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":45436,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/06\/see-mars-venus-and-the-beehive-cluster-together-in-the-evening-sky-this-month.jpg",1200,766,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/06\/see-mars-venus-and-the-beehive-cluster-together-in-the-evening-sky-this-month-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/06\/see-mars-venus-and-the-beehive-cluster-together-in-the-evening-sky-this-month-300x192.jpg",300,192,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/06\/see-mars-venus-and-the-beehive-cluster-together-in-the-evening-sky-this-month-768x490.jpg",768,490,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/06\/see-mars-venus-and-the-beehive-cluster-together-in-the-evening-sky-this-month-1024x654.jpg",800,511,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/06\/see-mars-venus-and-the-beehive-cluster-together-in-the-evening-sky-this-month.jpg",1200,766,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/06\/see-mars-venus-and-the-beehive-cluster-together-in-the-evening-sky-this-month.jpg",1200,766,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Both Mars and Venus appear to pass the Beehive Cluster, M44, in June.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/45435"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}