Make wishtv.com your home page

Spectacular near-overlap of planets in Tuesday’s sky

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) – Weather conditions pending, a spectacular planetary sighting is expected in Tuesday’s (June 30, 2015) night sky.

Jupiter and Venus, the two brightest planets in our sky, will be just about on top of each other almost due west, about 27 degrees above the horizon right at Sunset (for Terre Haute).They’ll be less than the width of a full moon apart. This will be a brilliant spectacle.

The near-alignment will be visible to the naked eye, but binoculars or a small telescope will enhance the detail near the planets including Jupiter’s four moons.

Look for the brightest “object” in the sky aside from the full moon which rises in the east. A second sighting to check out will be Saturn.

The ringed-planet will also be visible near Sunset at about 35 degrees east of due south (look southeast), and about 27 degrees above the  horizon. Saturn reaches its maximum altitude of 32 degrees around 11 p.m. for Terre Haute. It is right above the constellation Scorpius.

If you’ve never seen Saturn’s rings, it is one of the most tremendous sights one can see through a telescope.