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Details:
Jupiter and Venus are at their closest tonight (Jun 9): 1.6˚. Venus now proceeds onwards towards M44 and gets there in time to meet the waxing crescent Moon next Wednesday (Jun 17) where they will straddle the cluster.
Meanwhile, Jupiter continues to drop down towards Mercury but they never meet up. For this entire week Mercury hovers near its maximum altitude above the horizon, peaking on Jun 12, and then withdraws sunwards before Jupiter can catch up to it. Both will disappear by early July.
(Note that Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation from the Sun on Jun 17, but for sighting it with the naked eye its angular distance from the Sun matters less than its altitude above the horizon. From what I've read its current apparition is actually rather good for both Northern and Southern hemispheres, even if not maximally so, since the ecliptic's tilt relative to the horizon is currently in a middle range.)
Photo data:
Panasonic G9, Leica 12-60mm lens, iOptron SkyTracker Pro
... #1, #2: @32mm, 3 x (f/5.6, 10 sec, ISO 800) = 30 sec
... #3, #4: @50mm, 3 x (f/5.6, 13 sec, ISO 800) = 39 sec
... date: Jun 9, 2026 10-10:30pm MDT (sunset 8:53pm, night 10:45pm)
Photographer's website:
No URL provided.
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