Sky Briefing #006 — Seven Years, Two Planets, One Exit
Monday evening, somewhere over the North Atlantic, twenty minutes after sunset. Venus and Jupiter on 1.5 degrees: three lunar diameters, one pinky at arm’s length. Friday night DL5 departs Los Angeles for Hong Kong for the first time since October 2018. And on Wednesday, Southwest Airlines will leave two airports where it never quite landed.
Skies
The Venus-Jupiter conjunction arrives this week — evening westbound flights, left side. Venus (magnitude -4.5) and Jupiter (-2.1) already sit about two degrees apart tonight, low in the west-northwest 30 to 40 minutes after sunset. The closest point comes Monday, June 9: 1.5 degrees. Both visible to the naked eye through moderate city haze. The viewing window stays open through June 12. Westbound evening flights this week: left window, first hour after sunset. BBC Sky at Night — Venus-Jupiter Conjunction
Crescent moon meets Saturn on June 10 — early riser tip, eastern sky. At approximately 15:00 UTC, the 25-day crescent moon passes within six degrees of Saturn. Both rise after midnight in the east and remain visible until dawn. Flying toward Asia Friday or Saturday evening and still awake around 03:00 UTC: right window, look east. In-The-Sky.org — Moon-Saturn Conjunction
Aviation
Southwest leaves ORD and Dulles on Wednesday — the pandemic expansion is over. From June 4, Southwest operates no more flights from Chicago O’Hare (ORD) or Washington Dulles (IAD). Five years after the pandemic-era expansion, both stations end without ceremony. Midway and BWI remain in the network. Southwest booking through ORD or IAD on or after Wednesday: rebook now, no fare difference within 14 days of the original date. The Points Guy — Southwest Drops O’Hare and Dulles
Delta returns to Hong Kong after seven years — DL5, A350, Friday night. DL5 departs LAX at 23:30 Pacific on June 6, arrives HKG at 05:00 (+2 days) — daily, A350-900, four cabin classes. Delta cut the route in October 2018, back then from Seattle. The restart adds over 4,300 weekly seats to a market that belonged to Cathay Pacific and United. Left window on approach: Hong Kong harbor at first light is not a bad way to land. Delta News Hub — LAX–Hong Kong
Project Sunrise back in the waiting room — April 2027 at the earliest. Airbus has pushed the A350-1000ULR delivery to Qantas back another four months to April 2027. Supply chain disruptions at the A350 production line. The custom jets need an extra 20,000-liter fuel tank and structural reinforcements for 22 hours in the air. Sydney to London nonstop remains an announcement. Third delay since 2022. Simple Flying — Project Sunrise Delayed Again
Emirates cuts 16 percent of its June flights — 47 routes, 480,000 fewer seats. Around 1,100 departures from Dubai are gone from the June schedule. Retrofit program, fuel costs, Middle East airspace. Kuwait takes the hardest hit at minus 75 percent. Transiting Dubai in June: check your booking, free rebooking runs until June 15. Simple Flying — Emirates Cuts 16% of June Flights
because you need to know that seven years without Hong Kong is long enough to forget how good the left window looks at dawn over the South China Sea.