IF YOU manage to get a peek of Venus - still blazing brightly in the west after sunset - over the next couple of nights, after marvelling at how bright and beautiful it is, take a look at the sky around it. You'll see the planet named after the Goddess of Love is actually shining above two large star clusters.
To Venus' lower right is the famous Pleiades star cluster. Also known as the Seven Sisters, it looks like a tiny version of the Big Dipper. All its stars are icy blue, and it looks gorgeous in binoculars, like a pile of tiny diamonds spilled on black cloth.
To Venus' lower left is a large ‘V’ of stars, with a bright red star marking one of its points. This is the Hyades star cluster, which represents the horns of sharp horns of Taurus the Bull, and the red star is Aldebaran, a red giant Sun which dwarfs our own. Sweep around this area with binoculars and you'll find lots of beautifully-coloured stars.
Stuart Atkinson Eddington Astronomical Society of Kendal
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