Morning Star, Moon and Planets Rise Together

Conjunctions are always a treat, and this event was no exception. As the morning sky began to lighten, Venus rose beacon-bright followed shortly by the razor-thin, 1.5% waning-crescent Moon. Without the camera, Saturn was invisible and Mercury was barely apparent over the morning’s glow. Check out this mouse-over, labeled version of the morning’s beauty. Venus was magnitude -3.9, Saturn was mag 0.2, and Mercury was mag -1.4. This means that Venus was more than 10 times as bright as Mercury and more than 40 times as bright as Saturn! It’s no wonder there were nearly impossible to see with the unaided eye! Keep looking west in the morning as Venus and Saturn will move close on August 27th in another conjunction where they’ll rise separated by just more than half-a-degree.