There is an interesting formation in the sky right now. The moon, a planet (Saturn) and a star (Regulus) are all positioned close to each other, forming almost a triangle shape. Regulus, the star of the formation, is the main star of constellation Leo. All three objects are located close to each other only tonight. Tomorrow night they won’t be located as close to each other as tonight, and day after tomorrow they will be even further apart. See the pictures showing the current situation as observed in Helsinki, Finland (Latitude 60 degrees north). This same phenomenon will be seen in about 8-9 hours in Canada.

Unfortunately the sky here in Helsinki is cloudy right now and therefore I cannot shoot pictures. This is why I am using Stellarium software to simulate the phenomenon and show you the pictures. Stellarium is a great piece of software with which you can simulate the upcoming nights and plan your observation sessions. You can download Stellarium from Stellarium.Org.

The Moon, Saturn and Regulus form almost a triangle, as shown in the picture. Damn! I wish the sky here in Finland was not cloudy. It would be nice to see these three bright objects meeting each other in the sky. These kinds of phenomena are not that rare, but you don’t see them every night. Anyhow, with Stellarium software you can predict this kind of phenomenon by running the simulation day after another and noticing when the celestial objects group together.

Although the formation won’t be as good tomorrow night as it has been tonight, I will stay awake and hope my sky will be clear. Best time to view these objects is at around midnight, just like I am doing right now. Stellarium simulation assumes that observer is located in Latitude 60 degrees north. This line includes cities such as Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo and Canadian cities such as Dawson Creek, Edmonton and Thompson. If you manage to shoot pictures of those three objects, please send them to us for publishing in this blog.