Author Archives
Jeffrey L. Hunt is an educational technologist living in suburban Chicago. When he's not learning about and implementing technology in classes, he's running or looking at the stars.
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2021, May 10: Five Planets on Parade
May 10, 2021: Five planets are on display. Jupiter and Saturn are visible in the southeastern sky before sunrise. Brilliant Venus, Mercury, and Mars shine from the western sky after sunset. Only the sun disrupts a continuous view of the five worlds.
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2021, May 9: Planets on Parade
May 9, 2021: Look for five planets today. Jupiter and Saturn are visible in the southeast before sunrise. Venus, Mercury, and Mars are in the western sky after sunset.
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2021, May 8: Watch the Planet Parade
May 8, 2021: Five planets are visible during morning and evening appearances. Jupiter and Saturn are visible before sunrise. Daylight interrupts the viewing until evening, when Venus, Mercury, and Mars are visible in the west after sundown.
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2021: Sirius Heliacal Rising
The first morning appearance of a star before sunrise is known as the heliacal rising of the star. Sirius, the brightest star, makes its first appearance each year during mid-August from mid-northern latitudes.
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2021, May 7: Five Planets on Parade
May 7, 2021: The planets and moon parade across the sky today. Jupiter and Saturn are visible before sunrise in the southeast. The moon can be seen closer to sunrise. After sunset Venus, Mercury, and Mars are in the west-northwest.
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2021, May 6: 24 Hours, 5 Planets, Moon
May 6, 2021: During a 24-hour period, the five bright planets and the moon are visible. Before sunrise this morning, Saturn, Jupiter, and the crescent moon are lined up in the southeast. After sunset, brilliant Evening Star Venus is visible after sunset. As the sky darkens Mercury, then Mars, appears in the western sky.
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2021, May 5: Evening Lineup, Venus, Mercury, Mars
May 5, 2021: Brilliant Venus, Mercury, and Mars are visible in the western sky after sunset. Venus is visible low in the west-northwest about 30 minutes after sunset. By 45 minutes after sundown, Mercury is visible to the brilliant planet’s upper left. Mars is easily visible and hour after the sun sets, about one-third of the way up in the west, in front of the stars of Gemini.
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2021, May 5: Morning Lineup, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn
May 5, 2021: The crescent moon, bright Jupiter and Saturn lineup in the southeast before sunrise. One hour before sunup, the moon is low in the sky with bright Jupiter to its upper right. Saturn is to the upper right of Jupiter. Jupiter is brighter than all the stars in the sky. Saturn is brighter than the stars in the immediate region after the Jovian Giant.
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2021, May 4: Moon Near Jupiter, Saturn
May 4, 2021: This morning the moon is near Jupiter and Saturn before sunrise. Look about an hour before sunup. Bright Jupiter is to the upper left of the thick lunar crescent, while Saturn is to the upper right.
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2021, May 4: Brilliant Evening Star Venus, Mercury, Mars
May 4, 2021: This morning the moon is near Jupiter and Saturn before sunrise. Look about an hour before sunup. Bright Jupiter is to the upper left of the thick lunar crescent, while Saturn is to the upper right.May 4, 2021: Three planets are visible after sunset. Brilliant Venus is low in the west-northwest after sundown. Mercury is above Venus. It is visible lower as the sky darkens. As night falls, Mars is over a third of the way up in the west, under Castor and Pollux, the Gemini Twins.
