After several days of cloudy, snowy weather, three planets and the moon shine in the early morning sky.
Bright Jupiter is in the south, 7 degrees from the star Zubenelgenubi. Jupiter passes the star again in June as it retrogrades.
Mars, 17.9 degrees to the lower left of Jupiter, appears above the star Antares (The Rival of Mars). The star is so named because its brightness and color are similar to the planet. Mars is 5.1 degrees above Antares this morning. Mars passed closest to Antares on February 10.
Watch Mars approach and pass Saturn. They are closest on April 2.
Saturn is low in the southeastern sky, nearly 44 degrees to the lower left of Jupiter.
The waning crescent moon (26.5 days old) appears to the lower left of Saturn, outside of the frame of the image at the top. New moon is February 15.
The articles that follow provide details about the planets visible without optical assistance (binoculars or telescope):
- Chart and Image Collection
- 2018: The Morning Sky
- 2018: The Evening Sky
- 2018, March 3: Venus-Mercury Conjunction
- 2018, March 18: Venus, Mercury and the Moon
- 2018, April 2: Saturn-Mars Conjunction
- 2018: Mercury in the Morning Sky
- 2018: Mercury in the Evening Sky
- 2018: Five Planets Visible at Once
- 2018: Venus the Evening Star
- 2017-2019: Mars Observing Year with a Perihelic Opposition, July 27, 2018
- 2018: Mars Perihelic Opposition
- 2017-2018: Jupiter’s Year in the Claws of the Scorpion, A Triple Conjunction
- 2018: Three Planets at Opposition in 79 days
- 2018: Saturn with the Teapot