When you want to see the stars, find someplace dark
Getting together
Mars will pass between Saturn and Spica this evening. Currently moving in retrograde, the red planet will be directly between the ringed planet and the star. All three will be close to 1st magnitude. Saturn and Spica are currently about 4.5° apart. Mars will be just under 2° from the star.
The trio will be close for a couple weeks. On the 21st a thin crescent Moon, 24% illuminated, will join to create a very nice quartet.
Tomorrow morning, August 13th, the Moon and Venus will meetup for a nice conjunction. Separated by only 1°17′ the pair will be a nice match. The Moon will show about 16% illumination compared with Venus at -4.3 magnitude. A telescopic view of the planet will show that Venus is also at a partial phase, about 50% illuminated.
Viewers further north will be able to witness an occultation, Venus will slide behind the Moon during the middle of the day when high in the sky.
Jupiter will be about 22° west, higher in the sky. While Mercury is still visible just ahead of the rising Sun.
Tomorrow morning, August 11th, will see the Moon quite close to Jupiter. The pair will be a mere 2° apart. A bright Jupiter at -2.2 magnitude will be a nice match for a 33% illuminated Moon.
An even brightener Venus will be located about 22° east of Jupiter, closer to the horizon. You could also look for Mercury, 28° east of Venus and 16° above the horizon at sunrise.
In two more days, on the morning of August 13th, the Moon will rendezvous with Venus, for a closer conjunction, only 1° away from the planet.
A line of bright planets will grace the dawn sky over the coming week. While Mercury has passed maximum elongation and is now headed back into the Sun’s glare, it is still 16° above the horizon at sunrise. Well above Mercury the brilliant Venus is hard to miss, 44° above the horizon at sunrise. Even higher in the sky is Jupiter, at about 67° elevation at sunrise.
Tomorrow morning will see a crescent Moon in the lineup, about 40% illuminated and above Jupiter. Over the next 7 days the Moon will work its way along the line, waning ever thinner as it goes. On the 11th the Moon will be under 2° above Jupiter, On the morning of the 13th the Moon will be very close to Venus, just over 1° away.
Mars is fast approaching a rendezvous with both Saturn and Spica this week. Currently moving in retrograde, the red planet will pass between the ringed planet and the star. All three will be close to 1st magnitude. Saturn and Spica are currently about 4.5° apart. Mars will pass directly between the two on the 13th, just under 2° from the star.
The trio will be close for a couple weeks. On the 21st a thin crescent Moon, 24% illuminated, will join to create a very nice quartet.
This one will be a challenge. This evening a very thin Moon may be visible just below Mercury as the Sun sets. The Moon will be a mere 1.3% illuminated and only 7° above the horizon at sunset. Mercury may provide a bit of a signpost that can be used to find the Moon. It will be located 2.5° directly above the Moon, shining at 2.8 magnitude. As Mercury is heading for inferior conjunction, it too is a thin crescent. The pair will be 10° south from the point at which the Sun slips below the horizon.
The three brightest natural objects of our sky, after the Sun, will join to form a nice group tomorrow morning. The dawn of 14 July will see a thin crescent Moon and Venus only 11° apart. The bright Jupiter will be in between, only 6° from Venus. Jupiter will be shining brightly at better that -2 magnitude, Venus will be even brighter at over -4 magnitude. The pair will be a nice match for an 18% illuminated Moon.
The next morning, July 15th, will still see the trio quite close. The Moon will have moved east to a position just 4° north of Venus.
Tomorrow morning, July 8th, Venus will pass less than 1° from Aldebaran. The Eye of the Bull may be one of the brightest stars in the sky at 0.9 magnitude, but it is no match for Venus at -4.4 magnitude.
On the morning of the 8th the planet will be 59′ from the star, just an iota under 1°. On the morning of the 9th the distance will be slightly closer at 55′. The pair will rise about 03:18, to be well up in the sky before sunrise.
A very thin Moon will rendezvous with Mercury this evening. The pair will separated by about 8° and at the same elevation, over 20° at sunset. The Moon will be a very thin crescent, only 7% illuminated. A little over 5° north of Mercury will be Pollux, with Castor a bit further north, both stars about a magnitude dimmer than the planet which is currently about zero magnitude.
A nice trio will grace the dawn tomorrow, the morning of June 17th. Three bright objects will be visible just before sunrise. A brilliant Venus will be 14° above the horizon at sunrise. Above Venus will be a very thin crescent Moon, only 4% illuminated, will be 4° above Venus. About 8° above Venus will be Jupiter, shining brightly at -2.0 magnitude. Thus Jupiter will be the first to rise, at 04:02HST. Sunrise will occur about 05:43, leaving plenty of time to enjoy this bright conjunction.