From May 23rd to the 27th there will be a triple conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and Mercury in the evening sky, around 20-22 degrees Gemini, with a beautiful triangle formed on May 26th.

This will be a rare opportunity to spot elusive Mercury, normally hidden by its proximity to the Sun.

Astrologically, such a conjunction bodes well for communication, business, talks and seminars, teaching, writing and networking. A great time for a party too!
GB

To see the conjunction requires a good view of the horizon (and lack of low cloud in the west). Venus will appear first and you should then be able to see the other two close by, from about 9:45 on. Binoculars will help.

Although Jupiter will cease to be visible at the end of May (becoming 'under the sunbeams') it will continue to be a good time to spot Mercury up to the middle of June. Just find Venus visibly bright and then look up about 45° to the left. The optimum date is round about 8th. June.

Mercury, Venus and the Sun have appeared to overtake Jupiter very quickly - it's because of the perspective, Jupiter being so much farther away. Distances at beginning of June : Mercury 98m miles, Venus 151m miles, Jupiter 566m miles. Mercury is dimmer because it is a lot smaller, Venus especially bright because it is covered with pale clouds which coupled with its closeness to the Sun make it very reflective of light ("high albedo"). Jupiter can at times be almost as bright as Venus despite its distance, because it is so large.
KL

Early Friday morning there is a New Moon which is also an annular solar eclipse (total at approx 1:30am), at 19.31 Taurus, visible in Australia and the southern Pacific. Annular means that the Moon is too far from Earth to block out the Sun completely, so at totality it leaves a ring of the Sun's light (annulus) around it, sometimes known as 'the ring of fire'.

Astrologically, eclipses can bring drama, intensity and passion, and if you have any planets within a degree or so of Taurus in particular (and possibly Scorpio), expect to be in the spotlight for some reason. Eclipses are often like a message, prompting - sometimes forcing - you to make important decisions about your life, or showing you a vision of the way forward. Check out the house of your birth chart that the eclipse falls in for additional clues.

Eclipses also fall into Saros Series, which Bernadette Brady discusses in her book Predictive Astrology - The Eagle and The Lark (available to members in our library). According to Bernadette, this eclipse is part of the Saros 138 South15 series. Of this, she writes: “This series is about a release of tension. A situation which has been lingering will suddenly clear. In the clearing of the problem there is also a sense of grief or loss which is not so much personal as belonging to a group or collective.”

This eclipse, along with the two lunar eclipses surrounding it (on April 25th and May 25th) takes place within the current Uranus-Pluto square, exact on May 20th.

Eclipse photo by Kevin Baird, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.