Enjoy Venus this month when its easily visible in the evening. It's a thin crescent in telescopes. Tomorrow , weekend celestial events. Today the moon passes the planets Jupiter and Saturn. Tonight will see the moon above the two bright planets in the west southwest Also tonight, Eclipses and Occultations will be the topic of the Grand Traverse Astronomical Society's monthly meeting at 8 p.m. at Northwestern Michigan College's Rogers Observatory.
Occultations are events when the moon or a planet covers another object.
Observing these events is not only a pleasure but timing them is an important contribution to astronomy. The observatory is located south of Traverse City, on Birmley Road between Garfield and Keystone roads. This weekend the planet Mars, visible in the morning, will pass its rival, the star Antares. More on that Monday. The red planet Mars, named for the god of war because of its reddish color, the color of blood, is passing a star now with nearly the same hue.