Beauty in the Dawn Skies

Dawn Sky: Moon and Planet

The next few days feature a fine lineup of Moon and Planets in the dawn sky. As the Earth swings around in its most distant stretch of its orbit (we were at aphelion last week), the constellation Taurus gradually becomes visible in the morning sky, with its bright star Aldebaran rising just ahead of the Sun. Looking in that direction of the sky, the giant planet Jupiter is present near the "V" of Taurus, as well as the planet Venus, fresh off of the Transit and now heading westward from our point of view against the backdrop of stars. These bright objects are visited by the crescent Moon for a few days this weekend, so take a moment and look east if you are up before the sunrise.

Image courtesy of Sky & Telescope.