Brilliant Morning Star Venus appears above the crescent moon on October 14, 2020.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Before sunrise on October 14, the brilliant planet Venus and the crescent moon appear in the eastern sky along with the star Regulus.
Venus is moving eastward in front of the stars of Leo the Lion.
The chart above displays the moon, Venus and two bright stars of Leo – Regulus and Denebola. Regulus is portrayed as the Lion’s Heart, while Denebola marks the Tail.
See our summary about Venus during October 2020 and the feature article about Venus as a Morning Star.
On the chart above, Venus is less than one-third of the way up in the eastern sky. The moon, 27.0 days past the New phase and only 8% illuminated, is 6.6° to the lower left of Venus. Venus is over 13° to the lower left of Regulus.
Photographers can capture “earthshine” on the night portion of the moon. Reflected sunlight from Earth gently illuminates the lunar night. The effect appears on photographs of few seconds.
Here’s the guide for the planets tomorrow (October 15, 2020).
Read more about the planets during October.
2021, February 6: Morning Moon, Antares
February 6, 2021: Before sunrise, look east-southeast for the waning crescent moon. It is 4.5° to the upper left of Antares – the rival of Mars.
2021: Mars During February
During February 2021, Mars parades eastward in the dim starfield of Aries and moves into Taurus, nearing a March conjunction with the Pleiades star cluster.
2021, February 11: Daytime Proximate Venus-Jupiter Conjunction
On February 11, 2021: Venus passes Jupiter during the daytime in a spectacular proximate conjunction.
Categories: Astronomy, Sky Watching
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