dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (10/05/84)
A close trio of objects in the west after sunset this weekend consists of two planets -- and a famous star. More -- after this. October 5 Two Planets and a Star After sunset any night this weekend, you can see a compact trio of objects right above the place where the sun just went down. This trio will appear as a triangle Friday evening -- conspicuous because one of its members is Venus -- the brightest starlike object in the sky. The second-brightest object is the planet Saturn. And the third object is a star -- Alpha Librae -- whose proper name is Zubenelgenubi. Brilliant Venus has recently returned to our evening sky. It's located below Saturn now -- but by the middle of next week you'll see Venus above Saturn in the western twilight sky. As Venus climbs higher in the west each evening, Saturn sinks into the sun's glare -- soon to disappear. The third object in the small trio in the west after sunset -- the faintest object of the three -- is the star Alpha Librae -- or Zubenelgenubi -- given that name at a time when the constellation Libra didn't exist. Instead, the stars of Libra belonged to the constellation Scorpius. Zubenelgenubi was the southern claw of the Scorpion -- and it kept that name even after the claws were clipped to make room for Libra. Zubenelgenubi is a double star -- it actually reveals itself as two stars in binoculars. The star is now in the twilight -- not in a good place to observe. But if look in the west this weekend -- and see the compact trio of objects -- check out the faintest object in binoculars -- and you may see the three become four. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1983, 1984 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin