On a frosty, clear morning with a bright moon heading westward, the three bright morning planets – Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars – are in the eastern sky. Mars continues marching eastward and away from Jupiter and Saturn.
Jupiter is inching eastward among the stars toward its Great Conjunction with Saturn on December 21, 2020. This morning Saturn is 4.7° to the left of bright Jupiter.
Mars is farther east of the two giant planets, although in the sky, the planets look like stars. The Red Planet is in the southeast. It is over 30° east of Jupiter. Mars is now slightly brighter than Saturn.
Mars moved into the constellation Aquarius today. The stars in the constellation are relatively dim. With a binocular watch Mars gross the constellation during the next 47 mornings.
In three mornings (May 12), the moon is near Jupiter. For those details, read more about May’s morning planets here.
For our daily semi-technical description of May’s planet events, click here.
The semi-technical note for the day:
- May 9: Mars moves into Aquarius. Ninety minutes before sunrise, locate it nearly 16° in altitude in the southeast. It is 1.6° to the upper right of Iota Aquarii (ι Aqr, m =4.3). Use a binocular to see Mars with the stars. The Red Planet crosses the constellation in 47 days. One hour before sunrise, the bright gibbous moon (16.3d, 95%) is 7.4° to the upper left of Antares (α Sco, m = 1.0). Farther east, Jupiter – nearly 26° up in the south-southeast – is 4.7° to the right of Saturn. Among the stars, Jupiter is 2.5° to the lower left of 56 Sgr. One hour after sunset, Venus – nearly 19° up in the west-northwest – is 1.5° below Elnath.