Planet and star conjunctions, the Perseids meteor shower peak, and the bright comet 10P/Tempel 2

The summer time for astronomy at the latitude of Novosibirsk, especially the period lasting two months around the summer solstice on June 21, is a time of lull, since the nights are too bright and short, so the opportunities for observing interesting astronomical phenomena are reduced, and only in August, with the return of darkness and longer nights, astronomical observations come to life again. However, it is precisely during the period of the brightest nights that there appears a rare opportunity for observation.silvery clouds. This is not quite an astronomical phenomenon, since it occurs in the Earth’s atmosphere, but bright silvery clouds are a wonderful object for summer night observations and photography. They appear differently on different nights, sometimes almost invisible, and sometimes very extensive and bright fields of “silver” are visible. It is impossible to say in advance when they will be clearly visible, but those who have never seen such a phenomenon before should definitely observe it.

What other interesting astronomical events in Novosibirsk and its surroundings can be expected this summer, taking into account the above-mentioned circumstances.

The most interesting astronomical phenomena of the summer of 2026.

Night of June 9/10. Conjunction of Jupiter and Venus.Jupiter and Venus are the two brightest planets in the Earth’s sky. In their movement across the sky, they sometimes appear quite close to each other from the point of view of an Earth observer. Such events are called conjunctions. One such conjunction will occur on the night of June 9/10, when the angular separation between these planets will decrease to 1.6°, which is slightly more than three times the visible size of the lunar disk.In Novosibirsk, the best time to observe the conjunction will be the evening of June 9, approximately from 22:30 to 23:30, when it is already quite dark after sunset, and the planets will be visible as two bright stars above the western horizon at an altitude of about 10-15°. However, on the neighboring evenings, the angular distance between the planets will be larger, but only slightly, so if the weather is not clear on June 9, this conjunction can quite well be observed on the 8th or 10th.And in general, even a few weeks before the conjunction, these planets are already visible in the evenings on the western side of the sky, although they are still quite far from each other, but every day until June 9 the distance between them will gradually decrease.

Night of July 10/11. Conjunction of the Moon and the Pleiades.A series of occultations of the Pleiades star cluster by Earth’s satellite the Moon, occurring once every 18 years, continues. The 18-year period corresponds to the duration of a lunar saros (draconic period), which is caused by the precession of the lunar orbit. In other words, this is the precession period of the lunar orbit. The Pleiades cluster is located in the sky slightly above the ecliptic, but due to the precession and the tilt of the lunar orbit by approximately 5 degrees, the Moon in its apparent movement across the sky periodically (every 18 years) “reaches” the Pleiades and causes a series of occultations of the cluster.

Along the latitude of Novosibirsk, the current series of occultations began in mid-2024 and will end in March 2028. Occultations occur approximately once a month (more precisely, every 29 days, corresponding to the sidereal period of the Moon). However, not every occultation is visible in Novosibirsk. For example, in the summer of 2026, no occultations of this star cluster by the Moon will be visible in Novosibirsk, but on the night of July 10 to 11, the Moon will be very close to this cluster during the night.The eclipses will begin after 4 a.m., when it will already be too light in Novosibirsk; however, during the period approximately from 2:30 to 3:30 a narrow waning lunar disk of 18% should be visible near the stars of the Pleiades cluster, which will look quite interesting and will become a good subject for photography.

Night of August 12/13. Maximum meteor flow of the Perseids.This is one of the so-called “streams of the big three,” i.e., one of the three most active annual meteor showers, with a maximum occurring around August 12-13. At this time, its activity reaches approximately 100 meteors per hour if observed from the city under a dark sky. In 2026, the Perseids maximum coincides with the new moon, so the lunar light will not pose any hindrance to observing the shower.

The radiant of the Perseids is located in the constellation Perseus, from which the stream takes its name. The radiant is the point in the sky from which the meteor stream appears to radiate. Simply put, the Perseid meteors seem to fly out from the constellation Perseus. The radiant of the stream is located quite high above the horizon during the entire dark period of the day, at maximum roughly from 11 PM to 4 AM. However, the altitude of the radiant during this time increases from about 30 to 60 degrees, so during the night observation conditions of the Perseids and the number of meteors increase.

Night of August 14/15. Conjunction of Jupiter and Mercury.Similar to conjunctions with Venus, the planet Mercury can also occasionally pass near Jupiter in the sky. However, since Mercury is much closer to the Sun and therefore appears narrower, conjunctions involving Mercury usually occur at too small an angular distance from the Sun and are thus not visible. However, the conjunction on August 14/15 will be an exception, as it will occur when Mercury is at a relatively larger angular distance from the Sun. Unlike the evening conjunction of Jupiter and Venus, this conjunction can be observed in the morning.Most of these planets will be closest to each other on the morning of August 15, when the angular separation between them will be about 1° (approximately 2 times the apparent diameter of the lunar disc). The best observation period will be from about 5:15 to 6:15. At this time, both planets will be visible above the eastern horizon at an altitude of about 7° as two bright stars (Mercury -1.3 and Jupiter -1.7 apparent magnitude). Slightly closer, but still good observation conditions will be present the next morning, August 16.

Other connections

Night of June 19/20. Conjunction of the Moon and the star Regulus.Regulus is the brightest star of the constellation Leo with a brightness of about 1 magnitude. On the evening of June 19, it will be possible to observe a rather beautiful conjunction of this star with the Moon, when the lunar crescent will be located approximately 1.5° below this star. The optimal observation period is approximately from 23:00 to 23:30.

Night of June 27/28. Conjunction of the Moon and the star Antares.Antares is a first-magnitude star, the brightest in the constellation of Scorpio. On the night of the 27th/28th, the Moon will pass below this star at a distance of approximately 1.5-2°. The conjunction will be visible for most of the night, as well as very low above the southern horizon.

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Comets

10P/Tempel 2.This is the only bright comet whose appearance is expected in the summer of 2026 at the time of preparation of this review. Its brightness will be about 10 magnitudes at the beginning of the summer, then the comet will gradually brighten and by the end of July – early August it will reach the peak brightness, which will be about magnitude 8. At the same time, bright nights in the first half of the summer may complicate its observation during this period. In the second half of the summer, the comet will become brighter, but its altitude will decrease.Overall, the comet will be better visible in the second half of the night, and since it is a periodic comet, for which no close approach to the Sun is expected, it will most likely look like a spherical nebulous object with a small tail. Around the brightness maximum period, even considering its small altitude, the comet should be visible in relatively small amateur telescopes or even binoculars.

Explanation: Usually, various astronomical phenomena can be observed over a more or less extensive territory, and depending on the specific event in question, they may be visible, for example, in different regions of Siberia or Russia as a whole, or throughout the entire northern or eastern hemisphere, or even worldwide. In this review, information is provided about which remarkable, unusual, and interesting astronomical phenomena can be observed in Novosibirsk and its surroundings in the summer of 2026.

At the same time, it may turn out that Novosibirsk is not the optimal place for observing any of the phenomena listed in the overview, and in other points on our planet this phenomenon will be visible better, however the circumstances of visibility are apparently provided specifically for Novosibirsk.