Cincinnati Astronomical Society

06/23/2026

We are at T-minus 50 days until ALCON 2026, and just around a month til registration ends. Join us for the nation's premier amateur astronomy conference this August.

Happy hours, tours, lectures, the Keynote Banquet with Dr. Rebecca Williams from the Mars Curiosity team, the annual StarBQ this year at the Cincinnati Museum Center, and a very special afterparty at The Moeller Observatory in Adams County on Sunday August 16th.

Learn more at ALCON2026.org

06/21/2026

06/17/2026

Did you see the beautiful waxing crescent moon last night? Don't forget today at 3:30 the moon will pass in front of Venus, giving us a chance to easily find Venus in the daytime. Venus will emerge from behind the moon around 5:00.

Photo: CAS member Jun Lao

06/16/2026

CAS Observing Alert

We will have a couple beautiful conjunctions Tuesday and Wednesday evening at sunset.

On Tuesday we will see the slender waxing crescent moon hanging in the sky to the right of Jupiter. On Wednesday we will see the moon just to the left of Venus.

Last week we observed Jupiter and Venus come within a couple degrees of each other in a beautiful conjunction over a few nights. Now the moon joins the party, although Jupiter and Venus have been slowly drifting apart in the evening sky since then.

In fact Wednesday afternoon the moon will pass right in front of Venus in a mid-afternoon occultation, which could be viewable with even modest binoculars (see our previous post about this).

06/15/2026

This Wednesday June 17th will present a really interesting observing opportunity; a daytime lunar occultation of Venus!

An occultation is simply when one celestial body passes in front of another, in this case the moon passing in front of Venus, from our perspective.

Starting around 3:32 in the afternoon, the moon will pass right in front of Venus, blocking it from our view. Venus will disappear behind the dark edge of the moon’s disk, before reappearing on the bright Eastern limb right around 5:00PM

Although challenging, it is possible to see the planets in the daytime if you have binoculars or a telescope, and you know exactly where to look. This occultation provides us an opportunity to easily spot Venus in the daytime, as the moon provides an easy to find reference point to locate it.

Look high in the sky for the waxing crescent moon in the mid afternoon for this really interesting occultation.

We’ll hope for clear skies on Wednesday and a few CAS members are looking forward to photographing it. Let us know if you’re able to spot it.

06/12/2026

It’s going to be a great night for dark sky observing at The Moeller Observatory in Adams County.

06/11/2026

Did you catch the Jupiter and Venus conjunction shining brightly this evening? Mercury there too along with the Gemini twins Castor and Pollux. Annotated version in the comments.

From French Park.

06/09/2026

Conjunction alert: Last week we told you about a nice three planet conjunction between Jupiter, Venus and Mercury. Jupiter and Venus have been getting closer to each other in the evening sky with each passing day. While tonight will be their closest approach to each other, the clouds are going to spoil any viewing opportunities.

Not to worry, Wednesday night the forecast looks clear and they will still be really close to each other, only about 2 degrees apart.

Head on out to where you have a nice view of the Western sky and check it out. Mercury is also close but will set earlier. You will also be able to catch Gemini twins Castor and Pollux to the right of Venus.