Under a clear sky, Venus, Mercury, and Saturn shine from the southeastern sky this morning as seen in this 15-second exposure image made at 6:05 a.m. CST from the Chicago Area. (Click the image to see it larger.)
Brilliant Venus outshines all other starlike objects in the sky. This morning, Venus appears close to Zubenelgenubi (Libra) with Zubeneschamali nearby as indicated by the arrows.
Elusive Mercury appears low in the sky, about 8 degrees to the lower left of Venus, and can be seen without binoculars before the beginning of bright twilight. It appears below Venus for the next week or so and then disappears into the sun’s glare.
Saturn appears about 10 degrees to the upper right of Venus with Spica (Virgo) higher and farther toward the south, about 23 degrees to the upper right of Venus.
For our monthly sky watching posting, click here. Read more about Venus as a Morning Star.
Very nice photo – on the 10th and 11th the moon will come into the same field of view. I hope it’s clear head by then (PA)
Obviously it’s happened –before– but I have no memory of Venus ever being visible for so a duration (July – Dec) in the morning sky.
Yes, Nov 2010 to May 2011 was the last time it was in the morning sky. It will appear in the morning sky again Feb 2014 to September 2014 with an interesting grouping with Jupiter in mid-August.