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Stargazing: Close encounter of Venus and Saturn

Stargazing: Close encounter of Venus and Saturn

Saturn's reign in the evening sky is about to come to an end. The popular telescopic target of backyard astronomers has been sinking toward the western horizon all summer and will be lost in the glare of the sun next month. Before Saturn sinks below the horizon, it will provide stargazers with one final show this week when it passes close to our bright evening star Venus.

Wednesday evening, look for beacon-like Venus 10 degrees above the west-southwestern horizon 35 minutes after sunset. Fainter Saturn will sit about 3.5 degrees to the upper right of our sister planet.

The large moon you see above the eastern horizon Wednesday evening is not the full moon. The full "harvest moon" will rise about 3 minutes after sunset Thursday evening. The "harvest moon" is considered to be the full moon that falls closest to the first day of autumn. This year, the full moon that occurs on Sept. 19 is the closest to the Sept. 22 autumn equinox.

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First Published: September 16, 2013, 4:00 a.m.

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