Under a bright waning gibbous moon, Morning Stars Venus and Jupiter sparkle from the eastern predawn sky this morning in this 30-second exposure image made at 4:05 a.m. CDT from the Chicago area. Brilliant planet Venus passed closest to Pollux two mornings ago and is set to line up with both Pollux and Castor, the Gemini Twins, on September 7.
Bright planet Jupiter is over 40 degrees to the upper right of Venus near the star Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus. Compare the positions of the planets this morning to where they were a month ago.
Capella, the brightest star in Auriga, and Betelgeuse in Orion are visible in this image.
Watch the planetary pair in the morning sky throughout the next several months. Read more about Venus as a Morning Star. For our monthly sky watching posting, click here. (Click the image to see it larger.)