This week the best sky action takes place in the early morning. Look toward the east at 5 a.m. Friday, Oct. 9. to find the thin 26-day-old moon 18 degrees above the horizon.
Three degrees to the left (north) of the moon is red Mars. Bright Jupiter is closer to the horizon than the moon and Mars, forming a nearly equilateral triangle with them.
There is much more. Everyoneβs favorite, ever brilliant Venus is 8 degrees higher up from the moon and Mars. Two degrees to the left (north) of Venus is Regulus the brightest star in Leo the Lion.
By 5:30 a.m. the sky will be noticeably brighter. Look right along the eastern horizon to find newly risen Mercury. By 6 a.m. it will be six degrees above the horizon.
On Saturday morning the moon will have moved farther east, being a very slender 27-day-old crescent. It should be a splendid sight in binoculars on Saturday morning around 5:30 a.m. when the moon will be 13 degrees above the eastern horizon.
On Sunday morning the 28-day-old moon will be especially challenging. Look along the eastern horizon around 5:45 a.m. with binoculars to see the extremely thin moon just below Mercury. What a sight.
