Hey everyone! I hope you all have been enjoying the recent solstice vibes, and that your summer (everybody in the northern hemisphere) is off to a great start.
Tonight and tomorrow night there is a very special opportunity to observe a rare celestial event: a tight Moon-Venus-Mars triple conjunction. The last time we could have seen an alignment like this was in February of 2017. The next time won’t be until November of 2027, nearly 6 1/2 years from now.
So get outside somewhere special tonight, perhaps with someone you love, and find a spot where there is a great view for the sunset. After sunset wait to see Venus and the Moon emerge from the twilight, and then wait until it’s darker, (about an hour after sunset), and you should be able to see Mars very close to Venus. They are within about a degree of each other these next five nights, and if you have good conditions it should be pretty easy to spot Mars, though it is not much brighter than a star right now. This is because Mars is nearly as far as it gets from the Earth, and is about to disappear from view behind the Sun in about a month.