Assuming the weather cooperates, local skywatchers will be able to enjoy a conjunction of two planets Tuesday night, as Venus and Jupiter meet from Earth's vantage point.
For the past several days, the two planets have appeared to inch closer in the western sky. With binoculars or a telescope, a viewer could see them within a fraction of a degree around 9 p.m. Tuesday.
"It'll look fixed but within an hour, they'll start separating again," said Tim Collins, senior presenter for the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium at Buffalo State College.
In addition to the two planets, viewers should be able to spot Jupiter's four largest moons, the "Galilean moons," as part of the conjunction. Venus, which orbits closer to the sun than does the earth, will appear as a crescent.
Buffalo State College is scheduled to host free viewings of the conjunction in the parking lot outside Buckham Hall. Collins encouraged visitors to stay after the conjunction to enjoy a view of Saturn in the eastern sky later in the evening.
However, the chance of Western New Yorkers enjoying this rare celestial event appears small. As of Monday morning, the National Weather Service was forecasting a 60 percent chance of showers Tuesday with a chance of thunderstorms in the evening.
