Click here for the moon and planets on July 7, 2020.
The moon marches with Jupiter and Saturn in this morning’s planet parade.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
The bright moon appears with Jupiter and Saturn in the south-southwest this morning. It is 3.2° to the lower left of Saturn and 6.4° to the left of bright Jupiter.
The Jupiter – Saturn gap is 6.3°. This separation continues to widen as the planets retrograde in eastern Sagittarius. The reverse direction continues until September. Jupiter passes Saturn on December 21, 2020 in a Great Conjunction.
Mars, near the Pisces – Cetus border, is the lone bright “star” in the southeast. It is marching eastward among the stars of Pisces. Notice its proximity to 10 Ceti (10 Cet on the photo) and 44 Piscium (44 Psc). Follow the movement of Mars each morning with a binocular.
Venus is the end of the parade as it appears low in the east-northeast among the stars of Taurus. The planet appears to be moving in front of the Hyades star cluster. This morning it is inside the sideways “V” that outlines the Bull’s head.
Venus is 2.7° to the upper right of Aldebaran and 0.5° below Delta1 Tauri (δ1 Tau). On the morning of July 8, Venus appears in the middle of the cluster. Use a binocular to track Venus in the stars.
Mercury joins the parade beginning July 19 when the “Classic 9” planets are in the sky simultaneously along with the moon, at about 45 minutes before sunrise.
For more about the planets see this article about where to find them during July.
The planet parade begins again this evening when Jupiter appears low in the eastern sky about two hours after sunset. The moon is farther east in its monthly travels. It appears to the lower left of Saturn as midnight approaches.
Mars appears above the eastern tree line at about 1:30 a.m.
By an hour before sunrise tomorrow morning, the four planets and the moon are marching across the sky.