ILLUSTRATION BY STUART FUNK
In the opening days of June, Venus reaches its greatest eastern elongation — its farthest point in our evening sky from the sun for this orbit. This means it will sit fairly high and very bright in western sky after sunset. Meanwhile, the Goddess of Love is being approached by the God of War. Less than 10 degrees to the upper left of Venus, Mars is slowly getting closer to Venus every night.
By the end of June, they will be quite close together, but Venus will reject Mars’ advances and begin moving towards the sun faster than Mars.
Each month, Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory astronomer Eric McLaughlin spotlights a notable celestial event. For information about the observatory, visit ranchomiragelibrary.org/observatory.