The predawn southeastern sky continues to be splendid with Jupiter, Mars, ever-brilliant Venus and Saturn, in that order, from highest to lowest.
Be sure to take a look there on Friday, Jan. 8, starting at about 6:30 a.m. Venus is 18 degrees above the horizon. Just below Venus is Saturn. Contrast the brilliant white of Venus with the fainter yellowish color of Saturn. They will be less than a degree apart.
Also in view, hovering just above the eastern horizon on Friday, will be the 28-day-old moon, in the shape of a slender crescent.
The following night Venus and Saturn will be less than one-half degree apart. Also note the change in position of Venus and Saturn. In only one day Venus has zoomed to the east of Saturn and is now closer to the horizon than Saturn.
The close grouping of Venus and Saturn can be seen through the use of binoculars; however, a low-power telescope will show the rings of Saturn and the gibbous (more than half lit) phase of Venus. Venus goes through phases similar to the moon.
While these two magnificent planets look so close together from our perspective, they are actually millions of miles apart. The orbit of Venus around the sun is inside that of the Earth, while the orbit of Saturn around the sun is outside that of the Earth, Mars, and Jupiter.
