Bright Morning Planets Venus and Jupiter shine in a bright moonlit sky as seen from the Chicago area. Both planets can be seen well into bright twilight before the sun rises.
In the 30-second exposure image above, Venus shines from low in the eastern sky at 5:15 a.m. CDT. The bright star to the upper left is Denebola in the constellation Leo. Venus continues its rapid eastward orbital motion.
Jupiter shines from high in the western sky 105 degrees to the upper right of Venus. This giant planet shines in front of the starry background of the constellation Taurus. In the image above, made at 5:10 a.m. CDT, the bright star Aldebaran is nearby along with the horn stars Zeta Tauri and Elnath. The Pleiades and the Hyades, star clusters in Taurus, appear in the image. Betelgeuse (Orion) and Capella (Auriga) are visible as well.
For our monthly sky watching posting, click here. Watch the planetary pair in the morning sky throughout the next several months. Read more about Venus as a Morning Star. (Click the images to see them larger.)