March 3, 2022: Brilliant Venus and Mars approach their third conjunction in a series. The crescent moon returns to the evening’s western sky.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:22 a.m. CST; Sunset, 5:44 p.m. CST. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times for your location.
Morning Sky
SUMMARY OF PLANETS IN 2022 MORNING SKY
In three mornings, brilliant Venus passes Mars. Morning star Venus is over 15° above the southeast horizon during morning twilight. The planet is the brightest “star” in the sky and easily mistaken for airplane lights.
Dimmer Mars is 4.8° to the lower right of brilliant Venus.
Venus passes 4.4° from Mars on conjunction morning.
Evening Sky
The crescent moon returns to the evening sky. It is a very slim crescent, in the west at 45 minutes after sunset. The lunar slice is only 1.3 days old, after the New phase, and 2% illuminated. Look for it about 5° above the horizon at this hour.
Tomorrow evening the phase is thicker and the crescent is higher in the western sky.
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