Brilliant Venus sparkles in the southeastern sky with a waning crescent moon nearby as seen at 5:45 a.m. CST from the Chicago area. (Click the images to see them larger.) The planet continues to dazzle as a Morning Star in the southeastern sky. It is rising about 2 hours, 25 minutes before sunrise.
Meanwhile Mars and Saturn appear farther to the west of Venus. Mars appears 6 degrees to the upper left of the star Spica. Saturn appears between Mars and Venus, near the stars Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali.