Conjunction between the Moon and Neptune
2017 Aug 10
Dominic Ford – originally published on In-The-Sky.org
The Moon and Neptune will make a close approach, passing within 0°49' of each other.
From London (click to change), the pair will be visible in the morning sky. They will become accessible at around 22:13, when they rise 7° above your eastern horizon. They will then reach its highest point in the sky at 02:45, 31° above your southern horizon. They will be lost to dawn twilight at around 05:11, 23° above your south-western horizon.
At the moment of closest approach, the Moon will be at mag -12.5, and Neptune at mag 7.8, both in the constellation Aquarius.
The pair will be a little too widely separated to fit comfortably within the field of view of a telescope, but will be visible to the naked eye or a through pair of binoculars.
The precise positions of the Moon and Neptune at the moment of closest approach will be as follows:
| Object | Right Ascension | Declination | Constellation | Magnitude | Angular Size |
| The Moon | 23h00m50s | -08°12' | Aquarius | -12.5 | 30'50"1 |
| Neptune | 22h59m50s | -07°25' | Aquarius | 7.8 | 2"3 |
The coordinates above are given in J2000.0. The pair will be at an angular separation of 154° from the Sun, which is in Cancer at this time of year.
The details of this observing event were provided courtesy of In-The-Sky.org
.