Tonight will find the Moon about 7° away from Jupiter. Tomorrow the pair will be even closer, a separation of only 4.5°. The pair will be well up at sunset, to dominate the sky for much of the night.
Category: Planet Events
Mercury Exits the Dawn
This week Mercury will be exiting the dawn sky, sliding closer to the Sun in our sky each day. It will pass through superior conjunction on January 17th, heading for an evening apparition beginning in the final days of January.
The Moon and Mars
A very thin crescent Moon will be near Mars tonight. The Moon, only 5% illuminated, with be about 6° away from the Moon. The pair will be about the same elevation, 23° above the horizon at sunset.
The Moon, Mercury and Venus
Tomorrow morning, December 11th, a nice trio will see three bright objects create a close 6° triangle. Lowest of the three will be Mercury, shining brightly at -0.6 magnitude, at about 18° elevation at sunrise. About 4° above Mercury will be a nice 4% illuminated crescent Moon. Above the Moon will be Venus, shining at -3.9 magnitude it will be very hard to miss. About 16° above the trio you can find Saturn, making three bright planets in the dawn. This conjunction should be worth setting the alarm clock early for.
A Line of Planets in the Dawn
Tomorrow morning, December 10th, you will find a nice lineup of planets in the dawn sky. Mercury, Venus and Saturn will be in a line about 20° long. Adding to the lineup will be a nice crescent Moon, a bit over 10° higher in the sky than Saturn.
The view at 06:00HST will find a 19% illuminated Moon at 38° elevation. Working down the line you will see Saturn at 29° elevation, Venus at 15° elevation and Mercury at 9° elevation. With sunrise not until 06:46HST this will give plenty of time to view, and perhaps photograph, a line of planets in the dawn.
Over the next few days the view will be much the same, with the Moon lower each morning. On December 11th the Moon will sit between Venus and Mercury creating a nice trio.
Mercury at Maximum Elongation
Today Mercury reaches maximum elongation, the furthest point it will reach from the Sun in the sky and the highest it will be above the sunrise for this morning apparition. The planet is easily visible as a bright, starlike object about 15° above the rising Sun as the twilight begins. Over the next couple weeks Mercury will slide back into the sunrise, heading for superior conjunction on February 16th.
Jupiter at Opposition
Jupiter will pass through opposition at 14:43 today. The planet will rise at sunset and transit at midnight, available for observation for the entire night. For the remainder of the year and much of the spring, the planet will shine brightly in the evening sky.
The Moon and Jupiter
Tonight the Moon will be about 7° away from Jupiter, a bright pair rising together in the eastern sky after sunset. Tomorrow, November 28th, will see the Moon east of Jupiter, but even closer, just under 5° away.
Venus and Saturn
Tomorrow morning, November 26th, will see a very close rendezvous of Venus and Saturn in the dawn. The two will be less than a degree apart, with a separation of only 40 arc-minutes. This will put both planets in the same low power telescopic view. The pair will rise about 04:30HST and be well up, nearly 30° above the horizon, at sunrise.
This is a mismatched pair, with Venus dominating the view at a brilliant -4.0 magnitude. Saturn will be far dimmer at 0.6 magnitude.
Venus and Saturn
Over the coming days, Venus and Saturn will rendezvous in the dawn. Already drawing close, the pair is separated by less than 4° this morning. Close approach will be on the morning of the 26th when the separation will be only 40 arc-minutes. The two will remain close for about a week, the separation having grown to over 4° on the morning of the 30th.
This is a mismatched pair, with Venus dominating the view at a brilliant -4.0 magnitude. Saturn will be far dimmer at 0.6 magnitude.