Look east about 90 minutes earlier than dawn to hint the ecliptic down by way of Jupiter, Venus, and Regulus. Credit: Stellarium
- Jupiter and Venus are distinguished within the pre-dawn sky, rising at roughly 1:30 AM and 4:15 AM native daylight time, respectively.
- Jupiter’s magnitude is -2.0, considerably brighter than Pollux (magnitude 1.2) and Castor (magnitude 1.6) in Gemini.
- Venus, with a magnitude of -3.9, is exceptionally shiny within the japanese sky close to the constellation Leo, roughly 10° above the horizon round 5:15 AM.
- The planets’ positions are famous alongside the ecliptic, with Venus approaching Regulus (magnitude 1.4) over the next days.
Jupiter and Venus lead the Sun into the early-morning sky, rising round 1:30 A.M. and 4:15 A.M. native daylight time, respectively. Jupiter stands some 7.5° to the correct of the intense star Pollux in Gemini as they rise. Magnitude 1.2 Pollux marks the pinnacle of 1 twin, whereas simply above it, magnitude 1.6 Castor marks the opposite. Jupiter, at magnitude –2.0, far outshines them each.
All the planets in our photo voltaic system lie alongside the ecliptic, an imaginary line within the sky marking the airplane of Earth’s orbit across the Sun (the airplane of our photo voltaic system). You can discover the ecliptic by seeking to the decrease left of Jupiter, down by way of central Cancer to land on shiny Venus in Leo, about 10° above the japanese horizon round 5:15 A.M. native daylight time. Venus is a blazing magnitude –3.9, far outshining the rest within the japanese sky and not possible to overlook. Over the subsequent a number of days, it should shut in on shiny Regulus, Leo’s magnitude 1.4 alpha star, which presently lies about 7.5° to Venus’ decrease left, additionally alongside the ecliptic.
Sunrise: 6:39 A.M.
Sunset: 7:12 P.M.
Moonrise: 10:46 P.M.
Moonset: 1:53 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (58%)
*Times for dawn, sundown, moonrise, and moonset are given in native time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. native time from the identical location.
For a glance forward at extra upcoming sky occasions, take a look at our full Sky This Week column.