The fun begins in 2016 with the morning conjunction of the waning crescent Moon with the bright planet Venus this week, on the morning of Thursday, January 7, before sunrise. But as a special added bonus, Venus is currently lining up with the planet Saturn, which recently emerged from the sunrise, after being invisibly hidden on the opposite side of… Continue reading
Friends, 2015 was a very interesting year for conjunctions of the Moon and planets. Long-time readers of this newsletter and other experienced sky observers understand that the classical planets are among the brightest objects in the sky, and are brighter that the actual fixed stars. The planet Venus is blazingly bright, the third brightest object in the sky, exceeded in… Continue reading
Before sunrise on Monday morning, December 7, there will be a VERY CLOSE conjunction of the “Old Moon” with the blazingly bright planet Venus in the constellation Virgo! The Moon and this bright planet will be sharing the morning sky with the planets Mars and Jupiter! ALASKA AND NW CANADA… But on Monday morning, the waning crescent Moon will… Continue reading
Keep your eye on the sky before sunrise on the morning of Friday, December 4, as the waning crescent Moon lines up with the bright planet Jupiter in the constellation Leo! Over the weekend, the waning Moon moves into the constellation Virgo and passes by the red planet Mars! But the weekend dance of the planets is just a prelude… Continue reading
MORNING LUNAR CONJUNCTIONS OF NOVEMBER!!!! The waning crescent Moon will swing back into the scene in the first week of November. By then, Venus will be below Mars. Look for the Moon to line up with Jupiter on the morning of Friday, November 6, and with Venus and Mars on Saturday, November 7. KEEP WATCHING CLASSICAL ASTRONOMY TO LEARN ABOUT… Continue reading
MORNING CONJUNCTIONS CONTINUE!!!! After its maximum elongation, Venus begins to move toward the east, and will steadily draw closer to the sunrise through June, 2016. The morning dance of the planets of October continues into November when Venus lines up with Mars on the morning of Tuesday, November 3. Keep an eye on Mars into 2016, as it reaches opposition… Continue reading
MORNING PLANETARY CONJUNCTIONS: On the morning of Sunday, October 25, Venus and Jupiter are lined up in a conjunction, and Mars is still sharing the sky with these brighter objects. On this day, Venus is at its greatest western elongation, and is therefore at its maximum distance from the rising Sun, so these two will be pretty high above the… Continue reading
MORNING PLANETARY CONJUNCTION: Keep an eye on the morning planets in October, to observe their magnificent planetary dance. Mars and Jupiter line up in a conjunction on the morning of Saturday, October 17. But if you are up and around each morning before then, notice the subtle changes in the positions of these bodies from day to day. Start… Continue reading
MORNING PLANETS IN OCTOBER: On mornings in October, 2015, you can see the planets Venus and Jupiter in the eastern sky, among the stars of Leo. Look to the east in the morning as the famous constellations near Orion are hanging high above the southern horizon. Also notice that the brightest star Sirius is in the sky, along with Jupiter… Continue reading
LUNAR CONJUNCTIONS THIS WEEK!!! On the morning of Thursday, October 8, the Moon will be closest to the bright planet Venus, and will form a line with all the other morning planets, as shown. On the morning of Friday, October 9, the Moon will be in conjunction with Mars, though it will also be closest to Jupiter, as seen from… Continue reading
