On the evenings of June 12 and 13, 2023, you can spot Venus – the brightest planet – as it passes by a famous star cluster known as the Beehive. Nearby Venus will appear as a big, bright diamond passing by dozens of tiny distant diamonds in this star cluster. On both evenings, Venus is about 1 degree – or two full moons side-by-side – from the Beehive.
First, look for brilliant Venus in the west after sunset. At magnitude -4.2, Venus easily dominates the early evening sky. You might also notice two bright stars lower in the sky than Venus. They’re the bright stars in Gemini the Twins, Pollux and Castor.
Above Venus and the twin stars is a bright, reddish light … and that’s Mars.
Then, if you’re in a dark-sky site or have binoculars, you can spot a smudge of light on the sky’s dome in the vicinity of Venus. That smattering of stars is the Beehive star cluster, in the constellation Cancer the Crab.
In late May and early June – around June 1 and 2, 2023 – Mars was a delightfully bright light among the dim Beehive cluster. And now it’s brilliant Venus’s turn. Venus will be a beacon among the dim stars in the cluster.
Unless your sky is very dark, you’ll need binoculars to pick out the cluster’s stars. The Beehive will be easier to spot if you place Venus out of your field of view.
Telescopes will reveal more of the 1,000 members of the Beehive cluster.
Brilliant Venus – our sky’s brightest planet – will take on the role of queen bee when it passes by the Beehive star cluster on June 12 and 13, 2023. Look west shortly after darkness falls for Venus and the Beehive as they make an interesting and beautiful sight. Chart by John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
A closer look at the Beehive star cluster
It’s with optical aid that the true nature of this star cluster comes alive.
The stars in this cluster lie about 577 light-years distant. That’s in contrast to Venus, which is just light-minutes away.
And – when you gaze at the Beehive – think about how many planets might reside among these 1,000 stars. We already know of at least two (Pr0201b and Pr0211b).
Binoculars will help show you the Beehive around June 12 and 13, 2023, with Venus off to one side. Chart by John Jardine Goss/ EarthSky.
Photo of Venus buzzing by the Beehive
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Stephen James O’Meara in Maun, Botswana, captured this image on June 13, 2023. Stephen wrote: “The unaided-eye beauty of this conjunction led me to capture the planet and cluster close to trees in our garden.” Thank you, Stephen!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Ray Tolomeo in Bristow, Virginia, captured this image on June 13, 2023. Ray wrote: “Venus shining brightly in the Beehive Cluster as seen from my neighborhood.” Thank you, Ray!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | David Hoskin of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, captured this image on June 12, 2023, and wrote: “This image shows Venus, the brilliant evening “star”, next to the Beehive Cluster (Messier 44), a colorful open star cluster in the constellation Cancer.” Thank you, David!
Comparison photo of Mars vs Venus and the Beehive
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Ji-Hoon Kim in Seoul, South Korea, captured these 2 images to compare the planets’ visiting the Beehive Cluster. Ji-Hoon wrote: “Over the course of several days, planets passed through M44 (the Beehive). At left: Close-up of M44 and Mars on June 2, 2023. At right: On June 13, 2023, M44 and Venus came close.” Thank you, Ji-Hoon!
Community photos of Mars buzzing the Beehive
Earlier this month, Mars buzzed right in front of the Beehive star cluster. Here are some of the photos submitted to our EarthSky Community Photos.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Meiying Lee of Hsinchu, Taiwan, captured this image on June 2, 2023. Meiying wrote: “On June 2, Mars entered the Praesepe, also known as the Beehive Cluster, with its Messier designation M44. The Praesepe is an open star cluster composed of numerous young stars.” Thank you, Meiying!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mohammad Adeel in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, captured this image on June 2, 2023. Mohammad wrote: “It had been a while since ISS showed up in the sky, and tonight I had the chance to capture it with some interesting conjunctions. Planet Venus being at greatest western elongation and shining brightly was lining up with the twins (Pollux and Castor) in a straight line, while planet Mars was almost over the Beehive Cluster. And having ISS in the frame was too much of a busy sky not to be captured.” Thank you, Mohammad!
Bottom line: Spot Venus and the Beehive star cluster together on June 12 and 13, 2023. You’ll want binoculars to get a good view of the starry cluster making a sparkling accent to dazzling Venus.
Meet Marcy Curran, our voice of the night sky on EarthSky YouTube. Check out her popular short videos in the Sky category on our YouTube channel. When she's not making videos, Marcy is an EarthSky editor, helping to keep our night sky guide up-to-date and just generally helping to keep the wheels turning around here. Marcy has enjoyed stargazing since she was a child, going on family camping trips under the dark skies of Wyoming. She bought her first telescope in time to see Halley’s Comet when it visited the inner solar system in 1986. She co-founded her local astronomy club and remains an active board member. Marcy taught astronomy at her local community college for over 20 years. She and her husband live in Wyoming, in a rural location, with an all-sky camera and super-good horizon views! And, their observatory will soon be ready to photograph the night sky.
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