Morning Planets Venus and Jupiter appear in a clear sky this morning as seen from the Chicago area. Both planets can be seen well into bright morning twilight.
Brilliant Venus rises south of east as seen in the 30-second exposure image above. This morning the waning crescent moon, overexposed in the image, is above Venus. The two are paired nicely on Sunday morning. While Venus appears in front of the stars of Virgo, Denebola, Leo’s tail, is seen in this image.
Bright Jupiter is in the western sky and is now 120 degrees away from Venus. The giant planet Jupiter is in front of the stars of Taurus the Bull with its bright star Aldebaran. Two distinct star clusters, the Pleiades and the Hyades, are seen in this view. The Pleiades are a distinct, compact star cluster, while the Hyades are more widely spaced resembling a check mark. While Aldebaran is not part of the cluster, together with the other members they resemble the letter “V.” The horns of the bull are marked by Elnath and Zeta Tauri. Betelgeuse (Orion) and Capella (Auriga) also appear in this image above.
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.)